Articles

11/13/20 - Working at Chambers Street Wines has given me such an appreciation for farmers; people who devote their lives to the land and have an ability to really listen to it. The greatest wines are a direct translation of their environment. It was such a pleasure getting to meet with (virtually of course) the winemaker of Two Shepherds, William Allen, and to see...

11/6/20 - Over the past six months, I've had a great time exploring the wines of Campania. If you follow our offers diligently, you might remember a couple Piedirosso bottles that I fell head-over-heels for this summer. These days, however, my mind keeps returning to a pair of whites from Ciro Picariello. They are beautiful, full of elegance, but not short at all on...

11/2/20 - Sometimes help comes from the strangest quarters. 2020 was one of the most catostrophic fire seasons to hit California with lives upturned and historic wineries literally up in smoke. And when our friends at Vom Boden proposed selling a fantastic old school Cabernet from Ulli Stein, donating the proceeds to wild fire relief, we jumped at the chance. First it is a...

10/28/20 - Among the visionary growers of Champagne, Cédric Bouchard of Roses de Jeanne might be considered something of an auteur. Which is to say that all of his efforts in the vines and cellar advance his vision: that expression of each vineyard is paramount. Contrary to the Champenois tradition of blending, each cuvée is derived from one grape and one parcel and one...

10/24/20 - La Palma is the northwesternmost island in the Canary Island chain, and among the youngest of the volcanic isles. An enormous caldera dominates the island, and the most recent major eruption was less than 50 years ago.Characterized by intense altitude variations (the highest peak rises nearly 2,500 meters above the sea) and a stark contrast between black ash soils in the south...

10/20/20 - It almost sounds like a nerdy wine joke: two Germans walk into an oenology school in Burgundy and after striking up a friendship decide to make the best Pinots in Baden. Except, this did happen. The pair met in school and after working in vines and cellars of the top domains in Burgundy including Comte Armand, Leflaive, Pierre Morey, and De Montille,...

10/19/20 - I was thrilled when samples of the 2016 Bramaterra and Lessona arrived from Colombera & Garella of Alto Piemonte. Having recently opened them, I can say that the excitement was warranted. The wines are fantastic, and if you haven't had the chance to taste either in past vintages, these '16s are going to be great to cut your teeth on. Via our...

10/16/20 - We're happy to offer the very elegant, natural and terroir-expressive wines of Franck Balthazar in Cornas from this excellent vintage in the Northern Rhône. Balthazar is one of a small group of producers in Cornas practicing organic farming, whole-cluster fermentations and aging in used barrels, incuding growers such as Thierry Allemand and Domaine Lionnet along with Jean and Pierre Gonon, six or...

10/14/20 - Though it’s a bit of a truism at this point, for a region dominated by big houses and co-operatives, the grower revolution in Champagne over the last 20-30 years is still remarkable as the new generation(s) continue to improve and refine viticulture, explore individual terroirs, and expand on the possibilities of the wines. The forebear of this is certainly Anselme Selosse, whose...

10/11/20 - We talk a lot about organic and biodynamic agriculture on this web site. These are practices we believe in, and not just because they are less damaging to the earth and to our bodies. Growing wine is about communicating the personality of a particular place. Conventional farming does not silence a vineyard but it can certaintly muffle its voice. (Think about speaking...

10/9/20 - When I tasted the 2017 vintage of Masseria del Pino's I Nove Fratelli Etna Rosso, I didn't overthink it. At least not at first. I popped the bottle open and I poured myself a glass. From the get-go, I knew I'd enjoy it. There was such defined fruit on the nose - fresh cherry, pomegranate, and candied raspberry so articulated that they...

10/5/20 - The TerraQuilia 2018 Lambrusco dell'Emilia Falconero Zero is a stunning bottle of sparkling wine. While showing exceptional freshness, it mixes slightly bitter essences of rustic herbs and spices with the softer flavors and aromas of dried red and blue fruits. The bubbles seem to crackle in the glass when first poured, producing a zippy mouthfeel that pricks at the tongue, and eccentuates...

10/2/20 - In the last few weeks we've had some great wines from the Loire Valley coming in, including recent shipments from Domaine du Fresche in Anjou, and the dynamic duo Claire and Florent Bejon, from further east of Angers, near Chinon.Fresche is one of those quintessential Chambers Street estates: longtime organic farming (in this case 20 years), hand harvested fruit, native yeast fermentation,...

9/28/20 - They are back! The wines of Philippe Tessier have been favorites of the team at CSW for quite some time now. This should come as no surprise to those familiar with Philippe’s work as his wines are undoubtedly among the greatest low intervention wines you can find in this part of the Loire. These wines are sincere in execution and consistently exceed...

9/24/20 - Claudio Fenocchio took over from his father Giacomo in 1989 – probably the moment of greatest pressure to follow the ‘modern’ winemaking path of short fermentations and aging in new barriques. In fact, it’s difficult now to understand how much pressure was exerted – from peers and neighbors, old and young, from the press, importers, customers, and that mysterious thing called “the...