Articles

1/30/12 - In a region where 15% alcohol is the norm, we consider a wine like Broc Cellars’ “Cuvée 12.5” (a reference to the alcohol content) a relief and a joy to drink. The first time we tasted the wine at CSW several members of staff raised their eyebrows and smacked their lips. Here was a Rhône-varietal red wine with cheeky acidity, vibrant fruit,...

1/16/12 - Bruchladdich is an old name on the legendary whisky producing island of Islay.  It was founded in 1881, but has since closed and re-opened four times.  The current ownership took over in 2000; they seek nothing short of a revolution in Single Malt Scotch, and have both the means and minds to do it.  Wine industry veteran Mark Reynier and Islay legend...

1/02/12 - (Patrick Bringer shows us his very small cellar) From an tiny village in northern France, this pair of wines, a Bourgogne Blanc and a Bourgogne Rouge, offers an irresistible melding of the known and the new. Complex, accessible, and charming, the wines have a certain classic elegance, a compelling delicacy, an ability to be enjoyable now, yet worthy of a few years...

12/6/11 - Calvados represents Normandy’s version of a brandy.  Since it is historically too cold to ripen grapes along the English Channel, Calvados is made from apple and pear cider, unlike grape-based Cognac and Armagnac.  What Normandy lacks in viticulture, it more than makes up for in rich farmland, producing apples, pears, cows, and cheese.  The orchards have symbiotic relationships with the cows whereby...

12/3/11 - My ex and I used to leave our house in the center of the Loire Valley and drive about 3 kilometres to visit a winemaker in Les Montilles (also home to the Puzelats, but sadly we didn’t know them back then). He sold decent Sauvignon Blanc, and better Cab Franc to consumers in bulk - bring your own container - or in...

11/30/11 - To state a cliche: Luis Rodriguez is a man on a mission. In the old days, before the wines of Jerez achieved great fame on the Atlantic trade routes, Ribeiro was Spain's most sought after wine. The Romans grew grapes in Ribeiro, and there are records of renowned Ribeiro that date back to the 13th Century. During the reign of Phillip II, England became Ribeiro's biggest...

11/29/11 - Brunello di Montalcino is kind of a mess. For years the zone has been rapidly increasing in size as industrialists, ad men, and other wealthy gentleman farmers buy into the wine dream by establishing themselves in Montalcino. Abetted by ‘star’ winemakers and consultants– not all of them Italians, never mind not Tuscan – the zone has succeeded in producing a flood of...

11/22/11 - (Bush Vines and a Clear Blue Sky) A week doesn’t go by without at least one or two customers coming into the store wanting to know more about wine from the Canaries. I used to think of the cluster of Spanish islands as a semi-tropical vacation spot for European ravers. Until a few years ago I had no idea that Lanzarote, La...

11/19/11 - (Pierre Gonon with Samson) Our tastings of the 2010s in the Northern Rhône last winter were very exciting, with some comparisons made to the great 1991 vintage. Tasting with the friendly and thoughtful Jean Gonon is always a high-point of our trip and Jean seemed particularly happy with the vintage. There were rainy periods in May, said Jean, which fortunately did not...

11/02/11 - One of the most satisfying aspects of a buying trip to France is the eventual arrival in the US of a wine you adored when you were there. An eternity seems to go by between your initial infatuation with the wine and its docking in the US, a period of deal-making and label approval, pickup, container consolidation, and shipment, long enough to...

10/26/11 -  (Photo: Eben Lillie, Bernard Baudry, Charles Joguet, and Matthieu Baudry) One of our greatest pleasures each year is our tasting with Bernard and Matthieu Baudry in Chinon. The Baudrys are warm and thoughtful people which is reflected in their wines. Their expressions of the varied terroirs in Chinon are precise and careful, with the vinifications and aging suiting each parcel, from the...

10/26/11 - (Barolo vines in the steep and chalky Ca'Mia) Perhaps it’s just a failure of imagination – after all most wine shills (this one included) really aren’t writers – but how to re-invent the wheel? Combine genuine enthusiasm and a desire to sell some wine, and the result is very often a sales pitch that makes the claim, “one of the greatest…”, or...

10/24/11 - A perennial theme in the sphere of German wine is the battle of whether or not the wines ought to have residual sugar. Many German consumers say "no," while people around the rest of the world are saying "yes, please!" Our friend, Mike Steinberger, just published a good summation of the issue in Slate that is well worth a read, as is...

10/19/11 - (Alfredo working the vines with Penafiel castle looming) We recently tasted wines from a newly discovered vigneron working naturally in the Duero. Our friend, importer Jose Pastor shared some information about this grower that was intriguing to say the least. Alfredo Maestro Tejero, a son of the Duero, works 5 acres organically and – astonishingly for the Duero - he does not...

10/18/11 - (Piesporter Goldtroepfchen just above the village, Grafenberg just past the bend in the river) ...and we couldn't be happier. The vintage is turning into a controversial one, mostly because the high levels of acid were unprecedented in conjunction with abnormally high must weights. That's no problem for us, though; just take a look at the wines we love more than any others:...