Articles

10/11/11 -  (Hills, fog, and Thierry Navarre's healthy vines) Our Languedoc-Roussillon section is overflowing its bounds, Carignan pushing the Chateauneuf-du-Pape into the Saint-Joseph, the Cornas into the Poulsard, and the Mondeuse into the red Burgundy. Though we don’t wish to crowd the Burgundy, this wealth of very good, organically farmed, and naturally produced wine from the French Mediterranean is thrilling and we can’t seem...

10/10/11 - (Stephane Guion, Photo: D. Lillie) Chambers Street takes great pride in offering affordable wines that will age well, giving that unique experience of drinking a complex, mature wine from your own cellar or storage. Consider the Saint-Josephs from Gonon and Barou, Barolos from Burlotto, Burgundies from Rapet and Lafouge, Chinons from Baudry, Muscadets from Pepiere and Luneau-Papin and dozens more. Foremost among...

10/4/11 - Finding captivating single varietal Spanish Grenache is a challenge. Being personally obsessed with Spain's northern climates, especially those of the northwest, it is too easy to relegate Grenache to the realm of the decidedly unhip, as interesting as chewing gum: sticky, fruity, and excellent private label material. Two up and coming (Vinos de) Madrid bodegas, Bernabeleva and Maranones, from the village of...

9/28/11 - The reputation of Florian Lauer, proprietor of Weingut Peter Lauer in the Saar, has soared over the past few years. This is a mixed blessing for those of us that love the wines, as we're happy to see him achieve such great success, but it's getting harder and harder to get our hands on the wines. In fact, this year we've received...

9/26/11 - These are exciting times for Jura wine lovers. As interest in this bucolic and Tolkein-esque corner of eastern France has developed, many of the region’s growers have become known here in the US, their wines available to be tasted and cellared. The number of Poulsards, Savagnins, and Trousseaus we now have access to is thrilling! So much light, elegant red wine, and...

9/19/11 - Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted grape on Sicily, and its increasing popularity means that it’s now grown all over the island, even in the western provinces of Marsala and Trapani, which were once exclusively places for white wine. With one exception, the best Nero d’Avola we’ve tasted comes from the southeast part of the island - Pachino, Ragusa, Vittoria; the...

9/14/11 - When beautiful wines hail from beautiful regions, there seems to be an extra degree of beauty to both. I had this soothing thought when I visited Danila Pisano, as we navigated hairpin curves in her jeep on the single lane tracks high above Dolceaqua, a picturesque Ligurian coastal town nestled beten the French border and the sea. In the town’s center there...

9/11/11 - There were only two of us at 160 Chambers that morning at 9 am. It was such a beautiful day that we moved the cash drawer over to the tall windows facing south to count the receipts. We heard the unusual sound of the first plane and looked up. Later, we were on the corner at West Broadway when the first building...

9/8/11 - Almost two years ago we had the distinct pleasure of meeting Cheryl Lins, and tasting the fantastic absinthe that she creates from scratch. Cheryl has now been bitten by the whiskey bug, and we are proud to offer her first batch of barrel aged rye whiskey. Cheryl’s distillery, Delaware Phoenix, is a true artisanal operation based in Walton, New York. Here she...

9/4/11 - (The end of the day at Domaine Pepiere) In 2001, by the end of September, Eben Lillie was back on the street making deliveries for CSW. In 2011, he's in the Loire Valley helping out during the harvest at Domaine de la Pepiere and later at Clos Roche Blanche. Here are his first reports... Wednesday, August 31st: Lots of rot (pourriture) in...

8/22/11 - Cirelli is a working farm of about 60 acres, but only 5 acres are planted to vines. One of their specialties is raising free-range geese which yield, among other things, an incredibly delicious goose-breast prosciutto. The geese play a role in the vineyards, feeding there and thus helping a lot with pest control and weeding (and based on our experience of geese,...

8/8/11 - Stuck with inflexible schedules and innumerable meals to consume, for most of us, wine pairing is relegated to an exercise in the perfunctory; grabbing a bottle based upon vague intuition in hopes of achieving only mild harmony between flavors and textures. Truly transcendent pairings—those whose innate beauty renders the imbiber momentarily speechless—are typically the result of serendipitous epiphany followed by meticulous, and...

7/31/11 - (A Tasting in the Bindernagel Courtyard) In order to quench your thirst, dear customer, for exciting new wines from eastern France, as well as to provide you with light, chill-able summer reds, we happily offer four wines from Domaine le Chais du Vieux Bourg. Though they are relatively new to us here in New York, these wines have been “all the rage”...

7/27/11 - (Actions speak louder than words) Steve Edmunds is one of our favorite wine producers and possibly one of the sweetest guys in the industry. His wine, under the label Edmunds St. John, defies preconceived notions. It is un-spoofulated Calfornian wine and it is a négociant wine with integrity. The wines are balanced, delicious and offer an unadorned taste of place. On the...

7/08/11 - (Michel Gahier in his tasting room) A few kilometers from the relative metropolis of Arbois lies Montigny-les-Arsures, one of the 13 communes that make up the Arbois appellation. Less well-known than Pupillin, Montigny is the home of Jacques Puffeney, “Pope” of the Jura, as well as the darker-fruited and more Pinot-like Trousseau variety. For some, Puffeney’s Trousseau from the “Berangeres” vineyard is...