Articles

3/15/19 - I will readily admit to an abiding love for Burgundy. The appellations roll off the tongue: Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romanée, Volnay, Pommard… I’ll also confess to having great affection for less name-brand Burgundies. While not exactly household names, the less famous villages of the Côte d’Or furnish some immensely satisfying and affordable knife-and-fork wines. The interplay between fruit and earth and the cool-toned, sweet...

3/14/19 - Our small allocation of 2016s from Sylvie Esmonin has just arrived and while quantities are proscribed due to the historic frost and the subsequent two months of near-constant rain and attendant disease pressure, we're excited by the bright aromatics, fruit purity, and terroir specificity of the vintage. During our visits to the estate many years ago, the importance of plowing and good...

3/12/19 - This winter, after weeks of tromping around France visiting winemakers and attending wine tasting events, I attempted to take a very short vacation in Barcelona. I had promised Manel Arinyó from Clos Lentiscus that I would visit the next time I was in the area, so I reached out to his US importers, Ana and Alvaro from Selections de la Vina. As...

3/2/19 - Last year, I wrote a piece about Oriol Artigas and his wines, after he visited Chambers Street for a short tasting appointment. The wines - and his passion and joyfulness - left a deep impression on me, so I resolved to visit Oriol, as there may be nothing more important to understanding a winemaker and their wines than visiting the vineyards and seeing...

3/1/19 - First, we'd like to apologize for being out of Stéphane Guion's wine for almost two months - a disaster, caused by various shipping problems, delays and vacations. The good news is that the shipment arriving next week includes the superb 2016 Cuvée Prestige! For those of you who like to cellar their Bourgueils - or who enjoy drinking a beautifully structured wine...

2/22/19 - The winter light in the Loire is quite magnificent, in a low key way. A grayish pearly sheen that covers the gently undulating landscape, only occasionally pierced by soft sunlight. There is something grand in the understated nature of this landscape, something quietly medieval. It was my first time visiting this corner of France, and after years of drinking the wines, I...

2/21/19 - Even for Barolo, Oddero’s are some of the most uncompromisingly old-fashioned wines we know, with brooding structure that demands many years in the cellar. For example, two recent tastings of Oddero 1989 Barolo Vigna Rionda showed that wine to be just entering early maturity. Thus I expected the 1995 Barolo to be interesting to taste, but it turns out to be a...

2/18/19 - In introductory wine classes it is common to hear the assertion that Oregon Pinot Noir is darker, denser, and earthier than Pinot Noir from California. The wines of Kelley Fox go against this grain by being extraordinarily light, ethereal, with a limpid, crystalline structure and incredible, pinpoint precision. Kelley is one of the most conscientious practitioners of her craft anywhere in the...

2/16/19 - It's sort of a truism in the wine trade that hyped vintages sell; another truism (especially in Burgundy) is that it's always grower over vintage. So what to make of the ballyhooed 2015 vintage in the Côte d'Or? After a pair of difficult years maked by poor flowering and hail, 2015 was lauded by some as the vintage of the century even...

2/14/19 - I've never much understood the concept of "smoothness". The things I put in my mouth for pleasure, I want them to be exciting, expressive and soulful. I'm not necessarily always looking for higher proof, but I am always looking for an experience. In this regard, I am most fortunate to have Jamaican rum in my life, particularly the amazing juice coming from Hampden...

2/13/19 - When people think of Pinot Blanc, I assume Alsace comes to their minds or if one is thinking more historically, perhaps Burgundy and Champagne. And while there are many delicious wines made from or including Pinot Blanc from these regions of France, we are excited to turn your thoughts further east, to Germany! Known as Weissburgunder (or Weisser Burgunder), the variety has gained in...

2/12/19 - Véronique and Philippe Grenier at Domaine des Amphores are located on the hillsides of Chavanay, just south of Condrieu, where they produce Saint-Joseph red and white, a lovely Condrieu and delicious Vins de Pays that are sensational values. Certified organic since their beginning in 1992, and since 2016 all the wines are Demeter certified for biodynamic farming as well. During our recent...

2/7/19 - In South Australia, amidst the record-breaking heat and monolithic rows of commercial-zeal, there is a new pulse in one of the world's most maligned wine regions. In modest sheds built on parched hills, some of Australia's magic is reemerging. It's not the flashy, ambitious sort of the early aughts; it's a discreet sea-change that's gaining momentum despite the humble deflections of those...

2/6/19 - It’s no secret that much of the oxygen in wine discourse is consumed by the classic, the important, and the fashionable. And while much ink is spilled discussing the classic wine regions and noble grapes (not to mention, rediscovered viticultural regions and methods), there hardly seems to be any room for more humble grapes and appellations. This brings to mind Eric Asimov's...

1/25/19 - Today we would like to showcase two of our favorite producers, one a legend, the other a young maverick, from one of the most interesting areas in California: the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Santa Cruz Mountains have an odd identity. The region is not remote, being an hour's drive south of San Francisco, nor is it considered undiscovered, or a backwater; some...