The article I really, really did not want to publish this week was my appreciation of the late Steven Spurrier, who died on Tuesday at the age of 79, while never looking more than 40. The more I think about him, the more extraordinary this quintessentially English wine writer and entrepreneur was. He was most famous for organising in 1976 the fateful tasting in Paris that demonstrated that California could make wines every bit as convincing as the best of France – but he was so so much more than this. The number and geographical range of emails I have been receiving has shown how deeply he was loved and respected in every corner of the wine world. I should imagine that his widow Bella’s inbox and mailbag are currently overwhelmed. One important point that I failed to state explicitly: most unusually, he never had a bad word to say about anyone. He is pictured here by Lucy Pope in his beloved Bride Valley vineyard. Note the signature handkerchief.

My profile of Steven rather distracted from the other two free articles we published on Tuesday. Perhaps the most surprising spelt out details of the most extraordinary offer to potential MW or MS students of two scholarships, each worth about £55,000 ($76,000), by Lewis Chester of Liquid Icons in memory of another much-loved wine man, Gerard Basset MW MS OBE etc. The noble aim is to promote diversity in the wine world and the plan involves a lavish fundraising dinner in October at which awards called Golden Vines will be made to various wine producers.

And on the same day we published wine producer and investment manager Graham Shore’s account of the Brexit effect on wine in the UK. The latest analyses show that UK/EU trade has been plummeting and Shore outlined some of the reasons. Here at JancisRobinson.com we are all too aware of how much more difficult it is now to ship wine to the UK. And there was even a fourth article on Tuesday (yes, we’re crazy), Tam’s literally gobsmacked report on Barbadillo’s extraordinary sherry relics.

The day before that we’d published three contributions designed to celebrate International Women’s Day (which already feels like a lifetime ago). A factual survey of the proportion of female wine students worldwide also included observations on the very limited extent to which women are represented in the higher reaches of the wine trade. Complementing that was a video of a transatlantic discussion between female wine professionals about the general challenges they face and the particular ones caused by the pandemic (come in, home-schooling). More cheering was James Mayor’s profile of some of Portugal’s leading women winemakers.

On Saturday I wrote about alcoholic strengths on wine labels and how accurate they are. (It depends where you are.) Nick wondered whether, when we start going to restaurants again, chefs will offer comfort or excitement?

Wednesday’s offering was Richard’s investigation into the character of Chinese wine and my report, at the suggestion of a Purple Pager, on the wines of Alain Brumont back to 2010. This plugged one of the more obvious gaps in our coverage, which we try to keep as comprehensive as possible.

Yesterday we republished Arnica Rowan’s argument for reprising the ancient art of making piquette; meanwhile, another winemaking tradition undergoing a renaissance was surveyed in Ferran’s latest report, on the Moscatels (and other wines) of Alicante.

And today I offer a collection of tasting notes on wines from the revived vineyards and cellars of Eastern Europe while Richard suggests an unusual combination of Shiraz and Riesling as wine of the week.

So there you have it, a total of 15 articles. We do hope you find something of interest here.