Articles

3/3/14 - As we’ve watched the unusual wines of the Jura reach the heights of wine fashion, we’ve wondered when the Savoie would follow. I’m compelled to dispel the notion that the Jura and the Savoie have anything to do with one another. The Jura is part of the Franche-Comté, while the Savoie is part of the Rhône-Alpes, and they share little geologically, historically,...

2/22/14 - It’s an exciting time to follow the evolution of California’s wine identity, which is in a constant state of flux due to an expanding number of talented winemakers.   Instead of inheriting thousands of years of viticultural heritage, or developing a complex control system like France’s A.O.C or Italy’s D.O.C., the new world follows its own path.  In the beginning of viticulture in...

2/12/14 - (Jean Gonon) "Rain until the 14th of July" said Jean Gonon about 2012 "followed by a good August and an OK September - we did a severe selection in the vineyard - a small harvest, but good." Not a great vintage, perhaps, but "very similar to 2010 for the white" says Jean and for me there are similarities to 1991 - a...

2/9/14 - A few days ago our good friend, Mike Carleton of the small Connecticut-based import company, Transatlantic Bubbles, braved the worst snow storm of the season to bring us Champagne to taste. Low and behold, his bag was full of delicious wines that revived us from the torpor of dreary January with fine, energetic bubbles, and bracing minerality. In addition to the soulful...

2/8/14 - Over the past 20 years Hans Reisetbauer has risen to the forefront of Eau-de-Vie distillation.  (Eau-de-Vie, meaning “water of life” is the evocative French name for fruit brandies.)  In Austria there is also a proud tradition of making these spirits, but one would be more likely to hear them called by their Germanic name: Schnaps.  Americans spell Schnaps with an extra p,...

1/24/14 - (The rare Duras vines of Bernard Plageoles in Gaillac (photo courtesy of Isabelle Rosembaum)) Ancient, Tenacious Reds of South-West France The South-west of France was once the supplier of wines to Roman Emperors, the Gauls having planted vines as early as 600 B.C. by some accounts. These days, ancient sites and expressive, elegant wines fit for the ruling classes are selling at...

1/22/14 - (Roagna's vines in lower part of Paje in May; the vines at the top of the photo are not Roagna's.) When you walk from neighboring vines into Roagna’s vineyard, you feel a little as if you’d left the desert for an oasis; on the day the photo above was taken there were birds, butterflies, and rabbits amongst the vines. Aside from the...

1/21/14 - Suntory, Japan’s first and most prominent malt whisky distillery, announced last week that they were going to purchase Jim Beam for about $13.5 billion. Although not yet a household name in the states, Suntory, and the ever more visible Japanese whisky industry, are set to take the whisky world by storm.   Japanese whisky and Japanese whisky culture are rooted in Scotland, but...

1/15/14 - Oh the cosmic rhythm of the wine store. The final month of the old year depletes our stocks; the first month of the new replenishes… Quite possibly the best aspect of January is putting new wines on the shelf (let’s face it; the weather leaves something to be desired…). This week we’re particularly excited about a fresh batch of wines from the...

1/10/14 One of our favorite Burgundy producers is de Montille in Volnay, a Domaine that dates back to the 1800s.  Along with Lafarge and D'Angerville, Domaine de Montille produces some of the longest lived Volnays and some of the very best Pommards to cross our paths. De Montille's Rugiens "Bas" (considered a superior morsel of the Rugiens vineyard) is a benchmark of the appellation,...

1/7/14 - (Vines of Christian Ducroux) We salute the New Year, and with it the arrival of Christian Ducroux's delicious 2013 Prologue, the lovely 2012 Brouilly and Morgon from Georges Descombes, and the return of the wonderful 2011s from our new friends, Joëlle and Roland Pignard. 2013 will not go down in history as a great vintage in the Beaujolais, or any other region...

12/17/13 - Whisky is more popular than ever.  In the United States the surge has been led by ultra-aged Bourbons and the ever-expanding landscape of small, local-production distilleries, but we haven’t forgotten about Scotch.  Single Malt Scotch is made entirely from barley, and distilled in pot stills that produce much less spirit than the industrial stills used to make the majority of the world’s...

12/12/13 -    This is most likely our last offer of old Piedmont wine this year; there are some interesting wines we want to draw your attention to: Barolo Chinato is a ‘digestivo’ – something you usually drink after a meal, although in Piedmont some people like it as an aperitif. It has a base of Barolo, with sugar added and herbs and quinine,...

12/12/13 - (Sunrise Over Vogelzang Vineyard, Happy Canyon AVA. (Photo courtesy of Dragonette Cellars.)) The season for obligatory merriment is here, providing a variety of excuses to open delicious wines and share them with others! The domestic shelves are presently full of party-friendly and gift-worthy bottles, ranging from the experimental to the classic. Our California offers tend to be dominated by favorite winemakers from...

12/9/13 -   (One of the Nahe's most special sites, Schloßböckelheimer Königsfels) We are huge fans of Eric Asimov and his excellent wine columns in the New York Times. Often we find his taste lines up with our own, and he's done more than almost any other writer to help bring attention to the lesser-known regions and categories of the vinous world that we...