Articles

3/1/21 - "The twists and turns and different [soil] compositions make St.-Emilion, small as it is, a patchwork quilt of varying terrior," explains Karen MacNeil in an early edition of The Wine Bible. "Unlike the long, flat stretch of the Medoc or the long, gently rolling landscape of Grave, St.-Emilion has hillsides (the cotes) - limestone outcroppings and plateaus, plus gravelly terraces. Over centuries...

2/28/21 - Alberto Nanclares and his wife moved to Castrelo, near Cambados, in Rias Baixas in 1992. The retired economist loves the sea and sailing, and wanted to spend more time on and near the ocean. There was a bit of vineyard land near their new home, and eventually Alberto started farming the grapevines and set up a little winery in the garage. Initially...

2/22/21 - Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the inherent beauty of a place with perhaps even greater clarity than the locals. One such outsider who seems to to have a fantastic understanding and love for her new home is the talented young grower Eva Fricke. The child of doctors in Saxony, Eva's journey to the Rheingau ran through Oenology school in Geisenheim,...

2/17/21 - When we last visited Elio Sandri in May 2019, we tasted 28 wines, all variations on the 5 wines he bottles (Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Barolo, and Barolo Riserva).Elio is always testing the parameters of his winemaking, and he loves to share multiple versions of the same wine from different barrels, or the same wine from a bottle that’s been opened for a...

2/5/21 - For years this amazing tomato sauce has been a pantry staple for us. Made only from cherry tomatoes, it has more depth of flavor than any other I’ve tasted from a jar. The tomatoes used are very ripe and naturally sweet, so you could use it straight; I like to add it to sauteed onion, a pinch of chili flakes, and some...

1/31/21 - François Pinon took over the family estate in Vallée de Cousse, Vouvray, from his father Claude in 1987, and over the past 33 years has transformed it into one of the finest domaines in the Loire. More importantly, François was a deeply intelligent, kind, humorous and generous man who offered the kind of friendship that makes life worth living to many of...

1/25/21 - I’ve spent many weeks living at Tenuta Montanello in Castiglione Falletto; it’s become one of my favorite places*, for the dream-like beauty of the setting, and especially for the congenial company of our small group that has coalesced after some years of trial and error. The town itself is the smallest and quietest of the Barolo towns; its central position means that...

12/16/20 - Tasting the new arrivals from Nacho Gonzalez in Valdeorras is always exciting for me. The wines are invariably intense: youthful, coltish, and sometimes even odd. But there's such a lively quality to all of them, a shared exuberance that I find totally inspiring. Each wine is memorable and so itself, if that makes any sense.Nacho Gonzalez is a biologist by training. He...

12/9/20 - In the days before quarantine, when I looked at the Burgundy offerings on many restaurant wine lists or on the shelves of wine shops (to say nothing of auction offerings), I found myself disappointed. Over and over, the same names cropped up. To someone unfamiliar with the region, it might have appeared that Burgundy is populated by forty or so estates, all...

11/20/20 - We are very happy to offer a tiny quantity of the very rare and extraordinary special cuvées from Domaine Arretxea in Irouléguy and we thank Pascaline Lepeltier, Meilleur Sommelier de France 2018, MOF and Managing Partner of Racines NY, for the article that follows...A couple of months ago, I did a deep dive into the beautiful region of the South-West of France,...

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...