In Club Oenologique, Nina Caplan gives praise to darker rosés. “There are so many pink wines I enjoy drinking, but Tavel was my first love, at least in part because the mid-century New Yorker writer AJ Liebling admired it so much: through him, I learned that character and charisma are as important in the glass as they are on the page, or at the dinner table. The more obsessed the world becomes with pallid Provençal cuvées – often stripped of any slight tint they might naturally possess via refrigeration and other such unecological means – the more I seek out carmine wines, sultry and hedonistic, each with its own personality and means of self-expression.”

In Vinous, Rebecca Gibb delves into Sancerre. “Whatever you do, don’t mention Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre. The grape responsible for its entire production of white wine; the variety behind this hilltop town’s global success and the region’s prosperity. After all, what has Sauvignon Blanc ever done for them? The aromatic grape variety seems to be the dirty secret of Sancerre – it’s a necessary evil but no one wants to talk about it, and absolutely no one wants their wine to taste of the variety.”

In the World of Fine Wine, Alex Maltman explores the properties of flint, and attempts to understand how this inert substance became such a popular wine-tasting descriptor.

“Next month California will welcome its 147th AVA, Gabilan Mountains, and it appears that wines from only one vineyard will use the appellation on the label,” reports W. Blake Gray. But it is a pretty good vineyard with a track record.”

For Wine Spectator, Robert Camuto pays a visit to Michele and Claudia Calabretta, who left their original careers to develop their Etna vineyards and new wine label, Tenuta Boccarossa.

In Food & Wine, Lauren Buzzeo offers a guide to South African wine.

On her blog, Laurie Daniel explores the wines of El Dorado.