Articles

5/23/17 - Sitting across Steve Edmunds at an winemaker dinner at Racines last summer, he lightheartedly joked that his brief stint at the United States Postal Service made him sufficiently miserable to make the professional leap to winemaking. All humor aside, as a bottle of his 1995 Syrah Durell Vineyard Sonoma Valley rounded the table, the convivial conversation soon softened to contemplative whispers. With...

5/19/17 - Of the under-appreciated categories in wine, Italian sparklers might not be the first thing that comes to mind.  Sure, Prosecco has always been quite popular and people are starting to realize that not all Lambrusco is sticky sweet,  but it's easy to miss out on some really compelling wines if they are only thought of as simple aperitifs.  There's a whole crop of...

5/16/17 - During last winter's mad dash through France, we were finally able to visit our friends Yves Gros and family at Domaine Les Fouques, near Hyères. Located in a lovely hidden valley a few miles north of the Mediterranean, the Vallons des Borels, the estate's vines are on hillsides below wild-boar infested forests - a diverse and wild environment.  The vineyard shares the...

5/15/17 - Recently at a Burgundy dinner, someone far more knowledgable than I repeated the truism that Nuits St. Georges is no one's favorite wine. Now, I suppose it's difficult to argue with that as the village lacks grands crus and therefore a bit of sizzle, but I'd be hard pressed to say that any other  appellation has provided more satisfaction over the past...

5/13/17 - As part of a new monthly feature on natural wines, we offer new arrivals and a few old friends. Though it won't always be the case, today we're focusing on natural wines that are produced entirely without added sulfites. "Natural" may be an unfortunate word, due to the extensive misuse of the term for everything from toilet paper to potato chips, but...

5/12/17 - In New York these days nothing presages the arrival of spring quite as much as the wave of Rosés that land in the city, filling wine lists to the brim, and packing the shelves at Chambers Street. One bottle in particular that I look forward to every year is Bonavita's Rosato from Faro in Sicily. Winemaker Giovanni Scarfone farms his 2.5 hectares...

4/19/17 - I don’t get too many chances to trot out the photo of Nicola Paone – or more accurately, we don’t get many chances to offer a large collection of old Vallana. The connection? In the mid-1990s, when Paone’s eponymous restaurant was on its last legs, the fantastic cellar was still in place, including lots of 1950s and 1960s Vallana, at prices which...

4/14/17 - Chad defies categorization, but I would single him out as the winemaker in Oregon that is pushing the boundaries of how the state's wines are perceived by the wine public and wine press. Chad's wine career started out quite conventionally --  harvest job at Rudd Wines (Napa Valley, CA), assistant winemaker at Antica Terra (Dundee, OR), consultant for Johan and Durant Vineyards...

4/13/17 - Established in 2012, Maître de Chai was started by Marty Winters and Alex Pitts. They met in early 2010 while cooking at Sonoma’s Cyrus restaurant under chef Douglas Keane, and bonded over their mutual love of wine. Given the impecunious nature of working as a cook, Marty and Alex explored their nascent wine fascination by attending numerous (and most importantly, free) wine...

4/7/17 - A little more than a year ago, in January of 2016, we had the good fortune to taste barrel samples of the 2014s and 2015s from Domaine Philippe Tessier in Cheverny. The wines were simply delicious, showing beautiful, vibrant fruit with firm acidity and great minerality, and we're very happy that this wonderful group of wines has finally arrived in New York!...

4/6/17 - It is perhaps only in a village blessed with as many fabulous vignerons and famous wineries as Volnay, that a venerable domaine that stretches back five generations might be somewhat overlooked.  Yet this is somehow the case with Joseph Voillot in Volnay. With nine hectares of well-situated, old vines across Volnay and Pommard, Voillot is a delight for lovers of classically styled...

4/1/17 - Here at Chambers Street we relish the opportunity to work with wines that we can support and champion for all the right reasons, and today we are pleased to spotlight some new arrivals from Austrian winemakers: Claus Preisinger, Michael Gindl, and Matthias Hager, all certified Biodynamic! Claus Preisinger is currently working 19 hectares (spread between 64 plots) in Burgenland, north of Lake Neusiedl. After finishing viticulture high...

3/30/17 - 2014 was a difficult vintage for much of France as cool weather and abundant rains in the spring and mid-summer had growers working hard in the vines and worrying that a disaster was in the making. Happily, in mid to late august, depending on the region, sunny, dry weather arrived and continued through the harvests, enabling growers to bring in mature fruit...

3/29/17 - Last week we were pleased to host a series of tastings with some of Spain's finest natural winemakers. Alfredo Maestro and Goyo Garcia Viadero displayed continued mastery of zero-sulphur winemaking in the Ribera del Duero. We have admired their energetic, supple, and age-worthy wines over many years now, yet they seem to get better and better. In addition to the Duero's dominant...

3/28/17 - We're very happy to again offer the beautiful Chinons of our friends Sylvie Raffault and Eric de la Vigerie at Domaine Olga Raffault, who are doing great work at this important Loire Valley estate. While retaining the traditional vinifications practiced here, with aging in vat and large foudres, the estate has improved it's vineyard work and will soon be certified organic. New...