Articles

6/22/18 - It's almost inevitable that any product of exceedingly high quality and finite quantity finds a rapturous audience. It's just a shame that New York's honeymoon with Foursquare rum couldn't have lasted a little longer before all the "Pappy of Rum" articles started showing up. Suddenly, just as Foursquare was acquainting rum lovers with its phenomenal range of aged Caribbean spirits, they vanished,...

6/22/18 - We are excited to offer today our new allocation of 2016 wines from Sandlands Vineyards, one of our very favorite producers working in California today. The passion project of Tegan and Olivia Passalacqua (the winemaker at Turley Wine Cellars and a partner at Folio Fine Wine Partners respectively), Sandlands emphasizes old vineyards from previously neglected varietals, grown on predominantly decomposed sandy soils...

6/20/18 - We're proud to announce a new shipment from our good friend Julien Guillot at the Domaine des Vignes du Maynes! These are among the finest natural wines of France, from a family with three generations of experience with organic farming and winemaking without sulfur-dioxide. "The vineyard has never had any chemicals used on it and has always been farmed with the greatest...

6/18/18 - Sardinia is a region I have struggled with in my exploration of Italian wine. It isn't so much that varieties are unfamiliar (reference Cannanou, Bovale, Nasco, Naragus, and Monica), which is a common issue in Italy; rather that the wines often seem to lack a particular identity beyond the island's ability create very ripe, modern wine.  We haven't seen the same sort...

6/13/18 - Last month Eben and I visted Puimisson, a charming village in the Languedoc north of Béziers, to taste with vigneron Jean-Francois "Jeff" Coutelou. As fans of natural wines, this visit was especially meaningful because Mas Coutelou is one of the first wineries to be certified organic in the Languedoc (1987), not to mention that the wines are delicious. On the big day,...

6/10/18 - This is a unique opportunity to taste wines that are changing the way California is making and drinking wine! Please join us at 5:00pm this Wednesday as Hank Beckmeyer pours his beautiful natural wines from La Clarine Farm, and taste with Hardy Wallace of Dirty and Rowdy, who is bringing  fantastic new energy to American wine culture. Then at 7pm, join Hank...

5/31/18 - Ever since a brief trip to Lisbon and the surrounding wine regions earlier this year, I've caught the bug for Portugese wines. There's a lot to learn about the entire country, and the various traditions of winemaking, so I admit I'm not an expert, but if I may, I'd like to share my enthusiasm for the wines I have discovered. Appyling the Chambers Street Wines...

5/22/18 - As we move towards warmer weather, there's an undeniable pull towards red wines that have a freshness and verve to match our temperament (and cuisine). We've been fortunate to have a slew of Spätburgunder from Germany grace our shelves as of late, and wanted to put some focus on this oft-overlooked region for red wines. Germany has become home to many red grape varieties including Lemberger, Trollinger, Portugieser, Zweigelt,...

5/17/18 - St. Innocent is consistently one of our favorite producers in the United States, producing site-specific, terroir-driven wines in the Willamette valley, an area rich with different, exciting soil types. From red volcanic basalt-based soil to marine sediments, that remain from a time before Oregon had been thrust up through tectonic movement and was still a seabed. A winemaker attuned to the needs of...

5/15/18 - "This is the complete text of an interview with Jules Chauvet conducted in 1981 by Swiss winemaker Hans Ulrich Kesselring. The transcript of this exchange was published in the form of a written dialogue in 1998 by publisher Jean-Paul Rocher. This book being no longer available, the present volume constitutes a new edition to ensure that the ideas of Jules Chauvet -...

5/10/18 - Based out of Berkeley, California, Broc Cellars is an exciting winery, headed by winemaker Chris Brockway, that focuses on offbeat wines from intriguing and often much older vineyards. Their winemaking process uses only native yeasts with minimal doses of SO2 at bottling. These wines are fantastic and full of energy, frequently from areas off the more beaten California wine trails, with none of the weightier...

5/8/18 - Balazu des Vaussieres, Christian and Nadia Charmasson in Tavel After reading about an estate in Tavel that practices totally natural, more-than-organic vineyard work and vinifies without adding SO2, we made an appointment to visit Christian and Nadia Charmasson on the Chemin des Vaussières in Tavel. Our  visit occured during a storm of howling winds and torrential rain and was cut short by...

4/17/18 - In the northeast corner of the France-Comté, the river de la Loue emerges from a cave at the bottom of a worn limestone cliff, then carves through miles of lush vegetation, valleys and villages. It is in this river's crescent bend that the commune of Port-Lesney is cradled setting the scene for travelers, filmmakers, and future winemakers alike. I am indeed referencing...

4/13/18 - Since 1647, the Wenzel family has worked the land near the town of Rust, on the western side of Lake Neusiedl, in the Burgenland region of Austria. Rust has had a long, storied history in the wine world, at one time producing wines so renowned that they were able to buy their way into the special standing of "royal free city" in 1681 during the...

4/11/18 - Brighter days, blooms, and bird song can only mean that Domaine Belluard is back in stock. While savvy wine drinkers have already scrolled past this to the offer, I must confess to the newcomers that it took me a moment to have my "moment" with these wines.  The scarceness and subsequent price tag made them seem hard to access. Like modal jazz, abstract expressionism, or wearing white...