Articles

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...

3/23/17 - The center of gravity in Champagne skews decidedly northward. Montagne de Reims, La Valée de Marne and Côte des Blancs are spoken of more frequently and likely more glowingly, than Sézanne, Montgueux, Côtes de Bar. But there’s serious terroir in those hills and valleys if you look. It’s no secret that some of the most compelling developments in Champagne are coming from...

3/20/17 - Wink is here! Well, almost. Our good friend and fellow Jura/Savoie enthusiast, Wink Lorch, is making a rare appearance in New York City, and we are delighted to host her in the store on Friday, April 7th, from 5-7pm. Wink Lorch’s wine writing career spans more than 25 years, with half of them devoted to covering the Jura and the surrounding winemaking...

3/14/17 - These wines come from our friend T, who had a very simple answer when I asked why he was selling: “I have too much wine!” He started drinking Chateauneuf-du-Pape when he was fairly new to wine (not to date him, but that was a long time ago, and he now has a lot of tasting and drinking experience!). He immediately liked the...

3/11/17 - Last year we introduced the wines from Domaine Les Grandes Vignes, a sizeable Biodynamic estate in the Loire Valley that we have been really impressed with since we first started tasting their wines in 2015. We recently received a new shipment, and so figured it'd be a good time to re-introduce the estate to our readers, and highlight some new cuvées that...

3/7/17 - Please join us this Saturday as we welcome Pierre and Catherine Breton to Chambers Street! Since 1985, the Bretons have been producing some of the most elegant and delicious wines in the Loire Valley, with great farming and brilliant winemaking and with a convivial attitude that has gained them friends everywhere. Their early conversion to organic farming and biodynamic methods helped inspire...

3/5/17 - 2015 has been touted as the vintage of the century, or the best since ____ (fill in the blank) and indeed it's a vintage in France that produced excellent wines in many regions.  There is a great deal of variation, of course, having to do with the level of heat during the late summer and the timing and quantity of rains that...

3/2/17 - Philip Togni's winemaking career spans nearly the entire history of Napa Valley's relevance in the second half of the 20th century. A cursory examination of his winemaking resume drops several of the greatest names to produce wines here: Mayacamas, Inglenook, and Chappelet, as well as legendary Chalone in Monterey. Now at the age of 90, Togni has handed of the winemaking reins...

3/1/17 - It's no secret that we at Chambers Street Wines are big fans of the Loire Valley and the astounding range of expression its varied terroir gives Chenin Blanc. Within the lower Loire where Chenin is king, geology varies more than climate: granites, schists, quartzites, sandstones and  ancient, weathered limestones alternate along the valleys and divides of its eleven principal appellations. The chalk hills of the Paris Basin that...

2/27/17 - With each new year, we bid adieu to winemakers who have decided to retire, with hopes that their legacies will be carried on, either by daughters and sons, or by talented apprentices and stagiaires who have absorbed the know-how and philosophy of their predecesors, and are comitted to continuing in a like-minded fashion. Sometimes we're lucky and the transition is seamless. Other times,...

2/23/17 - We are excited to have visitors from Boca: Anna Sertorio and Andrea Marzo, owners of the organic vineyard called Ai Valloni. After the war, Ai Valloni was one of just a few producers who held on as the land under vine in Boca (and throughout Alto Piemonte) shrunk dramatically, the result of a combination of flight to the city, and a declining...