Articles

6/19/17 - I first went to see Mount Etna in 1981; I’m sure we drank wine but I have no idea if it was something local. The mountain was most impressive, and I do remember seeing vines amongst the old lava flows; it seemed incredible that anything could grow there. I loved it, and I loved Sicily. I did visit a couple times after,...

6/18/17 - We're thrilled to introduce the natural wines of La Vrille et le Papillon in the Ardeche. A brother and sister team, Meyrl and Géraldinge Crozier started La Vrille et le Papillon in 2012 and now have 5 hectares of Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Grenache and Ugni Blanc tended in organic agriculture. They grew up with grandparents on both sides of their...

6/16/17 - We will readily admit to an abiding love for Burgundy. The great names roll off the tongue: Amoureuses, Musigny, Romanée, Richebourg... The thought of these sets the heart racing. And while we'd love to drink these and savor the organoleptic nuances between the terroirs of, say, Latricières-Chambertin and Ruchottes-Chambertin on a regular basis, our budgets simply don't allow for us to do...

6/13/17 - It's a difficult period in Muscadet as most growers lost 50% to 90% of their crop in 2016 due to a terrible frost after a very warm early spring, with many producers suffering similar losses in 2017. Most estates were obliged to buy fruit and produced small quantities of wine in 2016, a terrible economic hardship for the growers as prices in...

6/11/17 - Last winter we  were asking Matthieu and Bernard Baudry about their favorite growers in Chinon (we always need more Chinon!) and they immediately suggested their friend Patrick Lambert, whose domain is around the corner from them, on the hill of Sonnay in Cravant. Luckily, Patrick was showing his wines at the organic show  "La Levée de la Loire" in Angers the following...

5/31/17 - One of the great pleasures of our winter trip to France is La Dive Bouteille in Saumur, where one can taste the great Beaujolais of the Descombes family, Lapierre, Chanudet, Breton, Leonis and others, including the beautiful natural wines of Jean-Claude Lapalu. Currently one of the most respected growers in Beaujolais, Lapalu began his career as a grape grower, only beginning to...

5/25/17 - Our small allocation of 2014s from Sylvie Esmonin has just arrived and the wines are full-bodied, complex and quite beautiful with the perfect balance of ripe fruit and acidity often found in this excellent vintage in Burgundy. During our visits to the estate many years ago, the importance of plowing and good farming to create deep root systems was emphasized frequently, especially...

5/24/17 - Much has already been written about Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts, partners and collaborators in their nearly eponymous label, Arnot-Roberts. Started on a shoestring budget in Healdsburg, CA in 2001, both Meyers and Roberts have become emblematic of the new guard of California winemakers. Delving into their personal ties to California is important to understanding the Arnot-Roberts story; one might...

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...