Articles

6/16/15 - (The Schatzkammer, or 'Treasure Room,' at Schloss Gobelsburg) Today we take a brief respite from the powerhouse that is the Wachau and head downstream toward Vienna to briefly check in with the most beloved estates of the Kamptal, Kremstal and Wagram. Tucked higher up in the hills and shielded from the warming influence of the Danube, these wines lack the sheer power...

 6/11/15 - (The toposcope at the summit of Ben Rinnes provides the location of many Speyside distilleries.) The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, held annually as April turns to May, offers a a chance for in-depth visits to distilleries (normally off-limits to the public) in this small northeast corner of Britain that is home to over half the distilleries in Scotland. The high concentration...

6/05/15 - There is nothing quite like the light, bracing, barely off-dry style of Riesling in which the Mosel particularly excels. In the 1890s and the first decade of the 20th Century, it was this unique character that grabbed the public's attention and affection, and Mosel Rieslings enjoyed a status not seen since. The current German labeling laws fail to properly account for this...

6/02/15 - (Jo Landron with biodynamic dirt and amphibolite stones) Chambers Street is proud to host one of our favorite winemakers, Jo Landron of Domaine de la Louvetrie, pouring new arrivals from this wonderful estate, Saturday, June 6th, from 4 till 7:00. Turning towards organic farming in the late 1980s, the entire estate is now certified organic and Biodynamic and produces a variety of...

5/31/15 -  (Happy cows at the Giard/Montreuil farm in Normandy, France.) Apples are one of the most diverse agricultural crops (with more than 7,500 known varieties), but they are overlooked in terms of quality, because they are often associated with sweet, cloying ciders and boring varieties sold on grocery store shelves.  This is unfortunate. Luckily we have been seeking out producers – some classic...

5/20/15 - (Why use barrique?) Being on many wine lists, my inbox always seems full of emails with superlatives describing the most recent vintage or recently discovered winemaker that my cellar can’t survive without. I’m sure that many are quite good and our friends at other stores and journalists are working hard combing the world for the best wines, but all of the offers...

​ 5/18/15 - The evolution of North American Riesling offerings, from simple and sweet to dramatically aromatic and superbly dry make this a thrilling time for Riesling lovers. Newcomers to Riesling will find an array of expressions that were untapped until inspired winemakers championed the grape’s natural qualities in more extreme climates throughout North America. Before the Riesling diaspora, California was considered the only...

5/17/15 - (Pierre and Jacqueline André) These three great estates are long-time practitioners of organic and biodynamic farming; Clos du Joncuas has farmed organically since 1920 and has been certified since 1980, Domaine Pierre André has been organic "depuis toujours," certified since 1980 and Biodynamic since 1992, and La Ferme Saint-Martin has been a leader in natural wine-making in the Rhone since the 1980s....

5/14/15 - (Sven Enderle grew up in Ettenheim and is now among the few working these old vine parcels) When Sven Enderle was growing up in the foothills of the Black Forest, his favorite place to play was in the breezy slopes around Ettenheim, roughly equidistant from Freiburg in Germany and Strasbourg in Alsatian France. Apple trees and grapevines peppered the fields under the...

5/13/15 - (Who is the monkey riding that giant fish? Come ask Mike the meaning behind his cryptic label.) We are long time admirers of Michael Dashe. He’s a sweet tempered winemaker whose excitement about fermentation and all things wine is incredibly infectious. Michael and his wife/co-winemaker Anne created Dashe Cellars in 1996 as a project to focus on northern California’s steep, cool climate...

5/12/15 -   One of the curious things about Burgundy is how one can manage to have a famous name and a bounty of fine vineyards and remain off the radar. One such grower is Domaine Georges Lignier, who despite having 16 Hectares across 17 appellations (including substantial parcels in multiple grand crus), manages to be only the third most famous Lignier of Morey...

5/8/15 - (Ewald Tscheppe of Weingut Werlitsch, biodynamic farmer and member of Schmeke das Leben in Austria's Steiermark region) There are strange stirrings in the south of Austria, encouraging whispers and exciting wines from a small group of ecologically conscientious, hands-off winemakers who are redefining the region. Styria, or Steiermark in Austrian parlance, is a beautiful locale of rolling hills an hour south of...

5/06/15 -   (Nicolas Carmarans in his vineyard. Photo by Fifi.) Between Bordeaux in the north and the Pyrenees Mountains to the south lies the Sud-Ouest. This is one of France’s lesser-known winemaking regions, overshadowed by the prominence of Bordeaux, and isolated by its rural setting (this is the least densely populated region of France with only ten residents per square mile!). Historically it...

4/27/15 - Tasting through new releases from California, we consistently find Pax Mahle's Wind Gap label on the wines we think are the most vibrant and intriguing expressions of the Sunshine State’s cooler corners. At this year's In Pursuit of Balance tasting - a yearly event focused on exposing the potential for freshness and restraint in California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir - the 2013 Pinot...

4/23/15 - (The dizzying pitch of the Schoenfels vineyard drops straight down to the Saar river.) 2013 in the Mosel was tricky, a vintage made difficult primarily from rain during the harvest, but if there is one takeaway from the story of the vintage, it's that results varied widely from grower to grower -- and it's possible that Florian Lauer made the best 2013ers...