Articles

9/15/15 - Kind of dreamy, the life that Chiara and Michele have put in place, moving to their own home in the countryside in Piedmont after working for some big companies, a lovely place to raise their kids, to live peacefully in an unspoiled spot, to realize their desire to make their own wine.  Perhaps this is where the needle gets dragged across the...

 9/13/15 -   Pascal Agrapart is doing next-level work in his 9.75 hectares of vineyards, spread across 62 parcels in the grand cru Champagne villages of Avize, Cramant, Oiry, and Oger. The wines and the cult status speak for themselves, but it’s worth taking the time to make the connections between his philosophy, his vineyards, and his wines. Unlike so many of his neighbors,...

 9/8/15 - (A happy group at Burlotto, with maestro Fabio Alessandria at the head of the table.) Despite the commercial temptation to which a merchant might be subject, not every vintage can be our favorite. 2011 in Piedmont is not an easy year for us due to the heat of the season, which resulted in many full-bodied, even over-blown wines, with quite high alcohol...

 9/3/15 - (Preparing the kitchen garden, next to the vines at Pranzegg.) For a long time we’ve been tasting Lagrein and Schiava, the two key reds of the Alto Adige, just to see, in a fairly idle manner, if we could find any that we thought were as good as Nusserhof’s. Some are certainly good wines, but none have shown anything like the purity...

9/1/15 - (Photos by Isaac Rosenthal (www.ikesight.com)) Stéphane Guion, whose family has been farming organically since 1965, makes some of the most terroir-expressive and ageworthy wines in Bourgueil, and at prices that make the wines easily affordable to all! The 2014 vintage, which was looking disastrous as of mid-summer that year, has turned out to be excellent in the Loire Valley thanks to great...

8/29/15 - (All photos (except of Pierre-O Bonhomme) by Isaac Rosenthal (www.ikesight.com)) For decades now, the Loire Valley has been a hotbed of unconventional wine practices, with a history of winemakers turning away from the heavily prescribed use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers in favor of organic and biodynamic treatments, compost, cover crops, biodiversity in the vineyards, and healthy living soils. Attempts to...

8/27/15 -   (Quentin in a newly acquired parcel.) Show me a fanatic and I’ll show you a success. Truer words could not be said about Quentin Bourse – the “Idiot Angel” of Azay-Le-Rideau. While this is the rough translation of the name of his label, Le Sot de L’Ange, he is a far cry from anything remotely resembling an idiot. Before taking over...

8/21/15 - Champagne's stylistic range is born, in part, from an appellation with nearly 34,000 hectares under vine and from the potential to blend many of those myriad terroirs. However, an important part of the breadth and the particularities of these wines comes from a pivotal step in the Méthode Champenoise : long lees aging. The same yeast cells that create the limelight bubbles...

8/16/15 -   (Jean-Claude Rateau in the Hautes-Côtes-de-Beaune -- Photos by Eben Lillie) New shipments of beautiful, old-fashioned Burgundies have just arrived from Jean-Claude Rateau in Beaune, and Jane et Sylvain in Gevrey-Chambertin. These two estates practice organic or biodynamic farming, ferment with wild yeasts and age their wines in minimal or zero new oak thus preserving the aromatic complexity and saline mineral flavors...

8/14/15 - In one of our recent deliveries of vintage Italian wines, we received an extremely rare collection of old whisky. In the current market for Scotch and Bourbon it’s hard to overstate how incredibly difficult it is to track down vintage spirits. We’ve watched old stand-by values rocket to prices that demand a special occasion. The global demand for whisky has depleted many...

8/13/15 -   Since taking over the estate from his father Fernand in 1991, Alain Coudert has become one of the most consistent and respected producers in Beaujolais. Alain was a reluctant vigneron, returning to aid the family after his brother had a serous accident in 1979. During our early visits to the estate, the modest Alain would defer to his father who would...

8/11/15 - Christophe Foucher makes brilliant natural wines on his 5 hectare estate in Couffy,  on the southern bank of the Cher River, near St. Aignan, just a short distance from our friends at Clos Roche Blanche. Christophe grows Sauvignon Blanc, Menu Pineau, Cabernet Franc, Cot and Gamay, farmed with strict organic methods and vinified without sulfites or other additives. He will stop by...

8/7/15 - (A mid-slope view of the Euchariusberg vineyard) To visit the Webers of Hofgut Falkenstein is to know that practiced fingers still dapple embossed ribbons in measured sequence for no more considered reasons than pride of craft and tradition. ​ To know that many generations of a single family continue to care for historic Saar vineyards is a reassuring constant in a diminishing...

7/28/15 - (Clos des Vignes du Maynes in winter) Recent arrivals to Chambers Street have included some of the most sought-after natural wines of France (or "wines of nature" as Didier Barrouillet would say) - we've selected some of our favorites for this email and Racines NY will feature them by-the-glass - one night only - just up the road at 94 Chambers Street...

7/26/15 - (Marc Olivier and François Pinon)   ​ The release of a new vintage of Domaine de la Pépière's Muscadet Clos des Briords is always a cause for rejoicing, especially when nature has blessed the Loire Valley with an excellent vintage, both in quality and quantity! So, no allocations, for now anyway, and a superb wine with a bit more ripeness than some...