Articles

10/15/2013 Chateau Musar occupies a unique place among great wine estates.  Located in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, one of the ancient world's most important agricultural regions, Musar produces natural wines from varieties well known elsewhere (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carignan, Grenache and Cinsault) and native grapes (Merwah and Obaideh, relatives and ancestors of Semillon and Chardonnay).Planted in the 1930 by Gaston Hochar, the vineyard today is...

Koehler-Ruprecht was a pioneer in crafting high quality, age-worthy dry Rieslings in Germany way before doing so became fashionable. We love their wines and had the great fortune of re-introducing them to the market with the riveting 2010 vintage, one in which even their humble entry-level wines are savory, mineral and outstanding. Anyone who has come into the shop looking for a dry Riesling...

7/16/2013 My first winery visit in Champagne – in the winter of 2011 – was to Olivier Collin of Domaine Ulysse Collin in Congy. I confess at the time I did not understand Collin’s wines; I had far less context and less tasting experience, and Collin’s wines are unusual. In retrospect – with several visits to the region now under my belt – it...

[Here's where you disgorge the bottles and add the dosage!] Our friends at the tiny, Connecticut based import company: Transatlantic Bubbles recently brought us a couple of new Champagnes to try. TB, as the name suggests, specializes in Champagne (in fact they import nothing else) and works with a few of our favorite small growers: Vincent Laval, Marguet, also Raphael Bérèche and Aurélian Laherte,...

9/24/2012 The word “unique” has become ubiquitous in wine conversation. As the word is devalued, its meaning warped through overuse, we seek to bolster it through the addition of modifiers: “very,” “really,” and (my personal favorite) “sort of.” Unique means “one of a kind,” a concept that requires no modification. In considering the wines of Eric Pfifferling of L’Anglore, we ask you to hearken...

4/20/2012 The following will GREATLY enhance your pleasure with a bottle of older wine. It may sound like a hassle, but it’s really not so bad, and well worth the trouble. Basic Wine Decanting 101 There is nothing complicated or mysterious about this process; just follow these simple instructions. You do not even need a decanter – any glass pitcher or bottle will suffice,...

4/19/2012 Many of our favorite wines have been old bottles. While the great majority of wines are made to be consumed within a couple of years of their production, the relatively few wines that are intended to age can offer absolutely magical tasting experiences. We are pleased to offer older wines for sale at Chambers Street Wines. We source the wines from private collections, and...

The die-hard Jura fanatic may remember the wines of Jean-Marc Brignot, a young vigneron in the Jurassian town of Molamboz who disappeared as quickly as he appeared on the New York wine scene in the mid 2000s. Brignot’s Poulsard “Jouvenceau” and his Melon-Queue-Rouge “Les Mouches on Pied” left lasting memories on those of us who were fortunate enough to try the wines when they...

[Stephane in front of le Clos de la Tour de Couron] “Energetic” is an oft used word to describe Stephane Tissot, bright-eyed and full of vitality. A tireless vigneron, Stephane farms between 45 and 50 hectares biodynamically, travels to distant lands as a spokesperson for the Jura, makes numerous different cuvèes, has recently begun experimenting with amphorae aging, and is intimately familiar with each...

[Cédric Bouchard] Let’s face it: mass-produced, extensively marketed Champagne is all around us: TV shows, billboards, music videos, glossy magazine ads telling us that expensive bubbly wine in a shiny bottle or box is the ultimate representation of luxury and pleasure, the beverage equivalent of a Carnival Cruise. When did we stop viewing this beverage as a wine, an agricultural product with a connection...

[Paiagallo, April 3, 2011. Vines planted in 1987. No herbicides in use here!] A couple of trips each year to Piedmont have given me the chance to taste a great many wines there – and to taste them a number of times. Combine those trips with Nebbiolo Prima, the annual event staged by the producers association called Albeisa (500 to 600 current vintage wines...

4/24/2011 [Many thanks to Justin Chearno for the use of his picture] As you cast your gaze over the crowd at the Dive Bouteilles, one of the world’s legendary natural wine trade events, you catch a glimpse of an eccentric, mad-hatter-ish figure. As you survey these chilly, dimly lit vaults below the Chateau de Brézé, you notice an energetic, distinctively clad gentleman in a...

We love the wines of Jean-Francois Ganevat more and more with each vintage. His wines prove him to be, without a doubt, one of the most exciting growers of the region. The latest batch is no exception; these are, quite possibly, some of the best wines from Ganevat we've tasted to date. Jean-Francois learned wine-making in Burgundy, where he spent nine years at Domaine...

[Bottling line at Ameztoi] If you are a Chambers Street Wines regular client you know we freak out about Muscadet here as we love it. Crisp, minerally, very well-priced and most of the better examples will age for a very long time. The 1982 Luneau-Papin l'Dor is still young according to some pundits around here. But we are not talking about Muscadet here today...