Articles

4/8/18 - In recent years, there's been a good amount of interest growing in France for wines from the Ardèche, and though people aren't flocking to Chambers Street and asking for the regions' wines by name, we thought it was about time to do a small piece for our readers. The Ardèche is a region located just west of the Rhone Valley, and is...

4/7/18 - Since a tasting many years ago at the natural wine fair "La Dive Bouteille," we have loved the Pouilly-Fuissés of Château des Rontets. Created in the 1700s, the estate has been in the Varambon family since the mid 1800s. In 1995 Claire Gazeau, François Varambon's great-grand-daughter, moved to Fuissé to take care of it with her husband Fabio Montrasi. Please join us...

4/6/18 - Are we living in the golden age of mezcal? At this point, I think it's safe to say it's an exploding category. We're seeing more exposure: more articles, more selections available on the shelf, and more consumers interested in learning about mezcal. It seems like almost every week there is something new, either special releases from our favorite producers, or entirely new...

4/3/18 - We were very excited a few years ago to discover some beautiful Chateauneuf-du-Papes at a tasting of wines imported by our old friend Peter Weygandt. The wines were aromatically complex and lovely, and were not heavy or over-extracted. There was fabulous density and length on the palate but with lightness and elegance in a Burgundan style - truly extraordinary and unusual! These...

3/29/18 - I never wanted to be a pirate, but when I was younger I developed a keen interest in Italian cinema. I remember sitting cross-legged on my parent's carpet watching Fellini's Amarcord, feeling entirely awe-struck, somewhat overwhelmed, like I was discovering a new language for the first time. Soon thereafter, I was hooked, devouring every film I could get my hands on by...

3/26/18 - The massive Sierra de Gredos mountain range is home to one of the highest peaks on mainland Spain, and a tiny community of talented winemakers on a quest toward the pinnacle of Grenache. Although they are a short drive west from Madrid, the Gredos mountains are among the most remote- and wild-feeling winegrowing zones in Spain. Blessed with an abundance of perfectly adapted,...

3/15/18 - To many wine shoppers, Portugal is mostly known for value whites and reds...and Port of course. Vinho Verde, for example, is a region that is synonymous with inexpensive, low alcohol thirst quenching white wines of the same name. Many people don't realize that there are red wines from Vinho Verde, let alone skin contact amphora aged whites and medieval-style field blends! Enter Aphros winery......

3/14/18 - The Italian wine scene has never been more exciting than it is now, with producers exploring new terriors in places like Mount Etna and Friuli, and utilizing many long neglected cultivars (ever hear of Ciliegiolo?).  In the rush to explore this incredible variety of new wines, excellent producers in more traditional areas like Silvio Messana of Montesecondo in Chanti often get short...

3/8/18 - Under the best of circumstances, organic and biodynamic viticulture is never easy. When you combine that with a marginal climate like that in Chablis the level of difficulty only increases. This is why we have such admiration for father and son vignerons Gérard and Lilian Duplessis. In an area known for industrial farming, the Duplessis family makes a beautiful array of terroir-specific...

3/2/18 - In the northwest reaches of Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) one finds the Wachau, a region located about an hour's drive from Vienna. A brisk journey along the Danube river takes you past epic vistas of undulating mountains and hills striated with stone terraces lined with vines on both banks. Side valleys cut swaths through the mountains and massive forests descend in and around the vineyards. Cellars can be found in...

2/27/18 - Located in Healdsburg, Brick & Mortar is a mix of classic and new Napa styles. They focus on more traditional grapes (pinot noir and chardonnay) but present them in inventive and surprising new ways. Keeping acidity high while still trying to offer wines that show Napa’s iconic signatures, winemaker Matt Iaconis uses inventive blends, earlier harvest times, native yeast fermentation, and nontraditional...

2/25/18 - Frank Cornelissen is coming back to NY (after a year off from his typically grueling US itineraries) and will regale us at a Chinese banquet with tales of life under the volcano. More importantly we will taste all of Frank’s recent production, including a new single-vineyard wine (the 4th in the lineup) called Feudo di Mezzo, and the famous Magma (now $250...

2/24/18 - For fans of low intervention, organic, biodynamic, and natural wines, there are only a handful of names to memorize in the Savoie: Belluard, Gonin, Dupasquier, Peron, Magnin, Berlioz, Lucas, and Maillet are some that come to mind. While we have many vintages to look forward to from most of these winemakers, our good friend Jacques Maillet recently made the decision to retire, 15...

2/20/18 - Sake is difficult. Not only are the labels undecipherable to most Occidental folk, but the flavors and textures of sake are far removed from what we normally encounter in wine. Scientifically speaking, sake has a narrower range of flavors (congeners) compared to wine or spirits, but within that spectrum, I often find myself exploring various shades of the same hue. Nuanced and...

2/16/18 - We recently spent a few long rainy days in Bordeaux, happily visiting old and new friends who are bringing great organic farming and more natural winemaking methods to this land of stuffed-shirts and Chateaux. And of course we managed a visit to Jean-Pierre Boyer at Bel Air Marquis d'Aligre, whose delightfully old-fashioned Margaux offer a delicious glimpse into the past. We tasted...