Articles

6/1/2007 - It has been a very exciting year for German wines at CSW with the tail end of the 2005 vintage selling briskly and the extremely limited-production high- quality 2006's arriving mostly with some more to arrive throughout winter/spring 2008. Since I have arrived at CSW I have made sure that German wine has a big presence on the shelf and also that...

5/30/2007 - Chandon de Briailles is a somewhat overlooked estate that has been improving steadily since the mid 1980's and has become a favorite at Chambers Street Wines. The farming is biodynamic with replanting by massale selection and the winemaking is traditional (bottled without fining or filtration) . . .leading to wines of elegance, purity and wonderful ageworthiness. Some of their choicest sites include...

5/24/2007 - This wine is so secret that Joe Dressner, the Desvignes importer did not even know about it. Unbeknownst to the American importer (Joe Dressner) the Desvignes made two bottlings of Javernieres from an "upper section" and a "lower section" of the vineyard. So what the heck is this wine that no one knows about it? To give a little background I (Lyle)...

5/22/2007 - Joseph Voillot has always been a very good producer but in the last few vintages his star is rising and he is becoming one of the top addresses in the Volnay/Pommard area. 2005 is by far the best vintage at this estate. The Voillot house style is sappy deep fruit mixed with great acidity, serious structure and wonderful purity. The purity of...

5/18/2007 - Eric Asimov has followed up my initial case with another handpicked case and this one is even more interesting as now I really have a feel for his palate and put some even more esoteric stuff in there. Some of it pretty out there but delicious nonetheless. I will let the wines speak for themselves. You can click on the link below...

5/12/2007 - If there ever is a vintage to test the waters of Cabernet Franc on a virgin palate it is the 2005 vintage. Like a confluence of 2004 and 2003 it has the wonderful ripe, sappy fruit of 2003 but also has the structure and acidity of 2004. These are wines that are full of fruit with the necessary backbone for middle to...

4/30/2007 - (Alice and Olivier de Moor in the cellar) The estate of Olivier and Alice de Moor is unique in Chablis as they are deeply involved in the "natural" wine movement in an area that is highly mechanized. It is very unusual to work with organic methods in Chablis due to the high rainfall, larger size of the estates and the general reluctance...

4/21/2007 - When I traveled to Germany in August of 2006 I fell in love with the Grosses Gewachs and Erstes Gewachs bottlings. These are literally translated as Great Growths and are a relatively new category in the ever changing German wine arena. These are dry wines that when translated into regular German nomenclature are Spatlese Trocken. Make no mistake about it these are...

4/14/2007 - With the resounding success of our Paul Pernot offer (people are still calling and most of the wines have been sold out for weeks!) here comes another great offer from one of our favorite and most reliable estates in the Cote de Beaune.  Burgundy '05's in general have been very expensive so when there is an offer like the '05 Lafouge wines,...

4/5/2007 - We consider ourselves pretty well versed on Muscadet down here at Chambers Street Wines. With David Lillie being the all-knowing God of Muscadet and Lyle Fass being his very willing disciple, there is some controversy as to actually how good the 2004 Luneau-Papin L d'Or is. Lyle thinks the 2004 L d'Or is the greatest thing since sliced bread. He has tasted...

4/3/2007 - If you are a Burgundy lover, Burgundy amateur or somewhat in-between, there is one thing that you cannot deny about the 2005 vintage. The 2005 reds are frightfully expensive. There are many reasons for this. The vintage is sensational and will go down with such legendary years as 1999, 1985, 1978, 1959. The wines have sensational balance, purity and ripeness. There is...

4/2/2007 - (Denise Louis, Jean-Paul Brun and Joe Dressner, photo D. Lillie) Is there a better value in the wine world than good, un-spoofilated, indigenously yeasted grower Beaujolais? Well if you are reading this you probably agree and have a great stash of numerous Beaujolais in the cellar. Now buy some more racks, knock down a wall and do whatever you need to do...

3/30/2007 - We here at Chambers St. wines are as obsessive as they come about traditional Barolo and Barbaresco. We love them plain and simple. Drinking them and championing them is akin to campaigning for an endangered species. As more and more producers eschew tradition in favor of mechanized winemaking traditional Barolo becomes scarcer and scarcer. So when you are drinking, buying and cellaring...

3/27/2007 - (Marc Olivier and Captain Alex, photo David Lillie) Bay Scallops with Endive, Leek, and Lemon This recipe is stolen from Georges Blanc - ok, inspired by. I don't use butter or cream, but he sure does, so feel free if you like... The endive and lemon provide a perfect foil for the sweetness of the scallops. This dish is really easy but...

3/26/2007 - Our first tasting was with the affable, mustachioed Jo Landron, producer of pure, delicious organic and Biodynamic Muscadets.  Our favorite was the 2004 Fiefs du Breuil, a remarkably complex wine full of stone and citrus flavors that are just beginning to open up.  It should arrive at Chambers Street by June 1st.  At the next table were the organic Pouilly-Fuissés of Chateau...