Articles

7/13/18 - A month ago, we had the pleasure of hanging out with Oriol Artigas as he passed through New York on a quick tour/vacation. We tasted his new wines and talked about the vineyards and the coastal mountain villages of Alella (a small wine region north of Barcelona). Oriol has an infectious type of energy and passion for his craft, and it's hard not...

7/11/18 - In its most simple definition, a Gemischter Satz is a field blend: a wine made from a mixed planting of a minimum of three different grapes that are harvested at the same time, fermented and aged together. In the past, these mixed vineyards were often planted as insurance against difficult vintages, and I've always been a fan of the underlying message at work, that...

7/6/18 - We're thrilled to announce that after a long wait, the rare and wild natural wines from Lucy Margaux are here. It's always a joy to see the bottles with their cheeky, home-spun labels on our shelves because they are unapologetically different from the conventional wine we usually see coming from Australia. For those who may have dismissed Australian wine as being overly-processed, extracted, or unimaginative, this...

7/4/18 - Today's email will be short and to the point: July 4th is upon us, and so is a nasty heat wave! With temperatures and humidity at a high, we will all be thirsty for the coldest and most refreshing beverage possible. Enter Wild Arc Farm's Piquette from the Hudson Valley! A beverage with a history dating back to Greek and Roman times,...

6/28/18 - Today we'd like to introduce the second vintage of two awesome Pét-Nats from Chëpika, a collaboration between Finger Lakes winemaker Nathan Kendall and renowned Master Sommelier (and dear friend of the store) Pascaline Lepeltier. What sets these wines apart is that they are made from two indigenous North American vine species: Catawba and Delaware. These grapes have a long history in winemaking...

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 -...