Articles

7/24/15 - (The Enkircher Ellergrub) The highest rigged sail on the wind ships of the 19th century would be called the moonrakers or the hopes-in-heaven. They provided the ships that raised them with that pivotal extra bit of speed and lightness. The heyday of those sailing ships long passed, who stands watch over that highest sail, over the sail that seemed closer to heaven...

7/20/15 - There's something admirable about winemakers whose wines seem to transcend vintage. One such producer is Pierre Yves Colin-Morey. Considered a rising star over the last decade, Pierre Yves Colin worked at his family’s winery until 2005 while starting his own label. His wines have since achieved must-buy status among Burgundy lovers. Colin-Morey supplements the estate-grown fruit with top-flight purchased grapes, making them...

7/17/15 - ("Language is like a bridge and over this bridge of language you walk in security, but beyond that lies another world . . ." -Robert Musil) Every wine grower works within the potentialities afforded them by nature, but each grower also has a series of choices that will yield a particular vinous reality from among those possible outcomes. The grape bud is...

6/30/15 - (Nothing says summertime like gin.) Gin is the ultimate summer spirit. Whether sipped neat, on the rocks, or mixed into your favorite cocktail, it never fails to refresh the soul (ever heard of a Corpse Reviver #2*?) and palate. Now more than ever, there is a vast array of different styles of gin available to us and each of them is incredibly...

6/29/15 - (The vines of the Steiner Schreck, perched above the city of Krems on the Danube.) On the recommendation of one of my favorite German winemakers, Gernot Kollmann of Immich-Batterieberg, I paid a visit to Dominique and Urban Stagård in Lower Austria this April. I was charmed. They have about 12 hectares in Kremstal that they farm organically, picturesque terraces overlooking the Danube...

6/27/15 - (Bottling their wines since 1947 and farming organically since the 1970s, Henri et Gilles Buisson represents the new old school.) When you drive south from Beaune, the famous red wine vineyards of Pommard and Volnay stretch out on the slope to your right, while to the left you’ll find famed white wine communes of Meursault, Chassagne-Montrachet, and Puligny-Montrachet -- it’s quite a...

6/24/15 - (Jochen Beurer) It's fun to drink serious wines from a winemaking region most Americans have never heard of and Germans simply scoff at. The area is Swabia--an area dear to our hearts and inspiring all because of two growers who have taken it upon themselves to take advantage of the hillside vineyards outside of Stuttgart. While most of their neighbors scorch the...

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....