Articles

10/25/2008 - Happily, there is no departure here with this vintage in terms of terroir expression. The attractive nose shows pillow-y aromas of bright blue-raspberry fruits, black pepper, earth, and subtle hints of orange zest and sea salt. These flavors are echoed on the light to middle weight palate with suave tannins leading into a beautiful and supple finish of focused berry fruits, granite...

10/21/2008 - Guiseppe Rinaldi & Brovia, 2004 Here you have two of the greatest names in Italian wine; both make traditional Barolo that is understated, elegant, long-lived wine, not flashy but classic expressions of exceptional vineyard sites. Both performed brilliantly in 2004. Rinaldi has a cult-like following, in part because very little wine is made, and much of that is immediately sold to local...

10/20/2008 - To borrow some commonly used rhetoric these days, the 2005 wines from Patrick Bize are game-changing wines. Burg-heads and wine geeks agree that Bize has always been the top guy in Savigny; for our palates Bize has true soul and unique character. He has some of the choicest 1er Cru's in the village including Aux Vergelesses, Les Fourneaux and Les Serpentieres. Bize...

10/10/2008 - When David Lillie and I tasted these wines at La Dive Bouteille in February 2008 we were very happy, and you’ll be even happier to see the reasonable prices of these fantastic natural wines. The Schuellers have been a force in the French natural wine movement for many years and work with bio-dynamic principles in the vineyard, but they are not certified...

9/15/2008 - We scarcely believed it either, but big, juicy cheeseburgers seemed a good enough reason to try the latest release from Michael Dashe: 2007 Zinfandel L'Enfant Terrible. First, what it is not: it is not crazy high in alcohol (13.8%), not over-extracted, not jammy, and does not taste like cough-syrup. So what is it?  It's startlingly good: something like good Zweigelt, with the...

9/13/2008 -

8/19/2008 - Champagne Tarlant has a long history as a grower-producer - for 12 generations the Tarlant family has been cultivating wine grapes, and making Champagne for 5 of those starting in 1911. Their 13 hectares are concentrated around Oeuilly and Boursault and Celles le Conde, and are cultivated according to organic methods, with the purpose of sustaining the health and biodiversity and of...

8/16/2008 - (Chateau de Coulaine, rebuilt in the 15th century) During our recent trip to the Loire Valley we were fortunate to taste with Pascale and Etienne de Bonaventure of Chateau Coulaine. Situated in Veron, terroir praised by Rabelais, the estate has been producing wine since 1300. Etienne and Pascale took over the wine-making in 1988, enlarged the property, converted it to organic viticulture,...

7/28/2008 - (Bockenau - where Tim Frohlich lives and makes wine) Lots of exciting stuff in German land. I am leaving for Germany on Sunday to visit a number of estates in the Mosel and Nahe including Haag, Donnhoff, Schaefer, Knebel and Prum and to say the least I am very excited. When I get back those lovely Rudi Wiest imported German wines will...

7/25/2008 - (Robinot at La Dive Bouteille 2008 in Deauville) Jean-Pierre Robinot was a wine writer (Le Rouge et le Blanc) and wine-bar owner in Paris before returning to his native village, near Tours, where he acquired a dozen hectares in Jasnières and Coteaux du Loir. His passion is natural wine-making - he farms organically and vinifies with minimal sulphur and his yields are limited...

7/22/2008 - Franconia is one of the most beautiful wine regions in all of Germany, if not all of the world. The main grape varieties are Sylvaner, Riesling, Schuerebe and sometimes oddities like Huxelrebe and even Chardonnay. The traditional bottle of the region is called the Bocksbeutel which has a very unique shape. It is shaped almost like a large fancy perfume bottle and...

7/21/2008 - In Chablis the estates of Raveneau and Dauvissat tower over all other producers. They make classically structured Chablis with the ability to age for up to twenty plus years. Acoording to his comments in Burghound, Vincent Dauvissat says his 2006's remind him of his 1989's, but better. Anybody who has had Les Clos or Preuses from 1989 can attest to the profundity...

7/17/2008 - It's officially a no-brainer. The Luneau-Papin Gros Plant will be in my fridge all summer and should be in yours. In Nantes the grape of choice is Melon de Bourgogne which is the principal grape in Muscdet, but there is also another grape that does not get as much attention. That is Gros Plant or Folle Blance depending who you are talking...

7/15/2008 - (Stefan Steinmetz) This year one of the major changes at Chambers Street Wines is that we have started working with the fabulous portfolio of Mosel Wine Merchant. These producers make some of the most natural wine in Germany and have been a welcome addition to the German selection. I am sure you are all familiar with Clemens Busch, Knebel and Steinmetz. Well...

7/9/2008 - When David was at the Salon in the Loire last winter he tasted with a producer named Stephane Guion who has been organic since 1965. It's a 6.8 hectare estate in Bourgueil that is harvested by hand, with no herbicides or pesticides used. The Cuvèe Prestige (1,200 cases made) comes from vines from 40 to 80 years old, giving yields of 35...