Articles

Today we have the great honor of offering a handful of wines from Victoria Torres Pecis, whose wines were previously bottled as 'Matias i Torres' until she recently transitioned to just using her name. When we received most of these wines about a month ago, it seemed odd (or possibly insensitive) to send out a newsletter while wildfires were raging through La Palma in...

7/10/2023 [The Pépière team in 2018 with the youthful Gwénaëlle Croix and Rémi Branger] The Domaine de la Pépière "Briords Vielles Vignes" is one of the greatest values in white wine to be found anywhere in the world offering elegance, complexity, great terroir expression and sensational food pairing with just about anything from the sea, not to mention quiches, salads, mild cheeses and much...

6/20/2023 Today we offer a handful of new arrivals from our friend Philippe Brand in Alsace. Together with his partner, Blandine, and an extended crew of winemakers and friends both near and far, Philippe is approaching natural wine production in a studied and simultaneosly free-spirited way, working overwhelmingly without using added sulfites, with overwhelmingly clean and exciting results! A brief history of the family...

[Dégusté à la veugle or Sors ton Anecdote!] With vineyards dating back to 910 AD that have been farmed organically since the 1950s, and three generations of experience vinifying without additives, Julien Guillot is producing some of the most unique and delicious natural wines of France! Included in today's email are the principal bottlings from the Clos des Vignes du Maynes as well as...

Domaine Bart, Marsannay: Since the 2007 vintage, Chambers Street has been offering the delicious Marsannays (and occasionally the Bonnes Mares and Clos de Beze) from the Bart family estate, currently run by Pierre and his uncle Martin. Our visits have always been a fascinating lesson in vineyard sites and we're happy to be offering 2021s from four different parcels as well as the "Les...

[Very old vines] It's always exciting to get a new drop from one of our favorite California producers and old-vine aficionados Sandlands, if a little bittersweet in that there just never seems to be much wine to go around. The spring release of 2021s is here and while the quantities are miniscule, the wines are as always bursting with energy and big on personality. Sandlands...

5/19/2023 [Raul outside his new winery, Winter 2023] A couple of weeks ago, the legendary Raúl Pérez was in town and I had the chance to taste some rarities and "core classics" with him at the Skurnik Wines office. It was the best and also the most comprehensive tasting I've had with him, and though many of the wines were not available yet in...

I do not have many friends in Burgundy, mostly acquaintances. Visits I've made over the years were primarily to older winemakers, who were always friendly and down to earth, but due to the generally succinct nature of Burgundy visits  (taste, talk about vintage, handshake), there has not always been a lot of time to develop deeper relationships. This all changed when I met Antoine...

3/8/2023 [Jon Peñagaricano points out the Akutain barrel in Haro town square (Photo: Jose Pastor Selections)] Rioja is many things. Probably the best-known wine region in Spain, it has a storied viticultural history, with the modern era of wine-making dating back to the 1850s. For most of that time, Tempranillo has been at the center of this story, and grand bodegas in the towns...

3/3/2023 It may just be me but most of my favorite things in life are generally attainable. My favorite foods are foods that I can eat from time to time, my favorite cocktail is one that I can actually order at any self respecting bar. All this is to say that Selosse may be exquisite, but my favorite Champagne is Marguet. Though I am by no...

2/22/2023 There may be a tendency to romanticize the idea of the winemaker. We imagine men and women at one with nature, the vineyard, and the wildlife around them, tending to the vines and reaping the harvest to then press Mother Nature's bounty into juice that will transform into this exquisite and thought provoking, emotional liquid. Unfortunately it's not always easy for our winemaker friends. Decades ago,...

1/23/2023 Nacho Gonzalez and the wild, ancient vineyards of Galicia Though it's always a wonderful moment when we receive new wines from La Perdida - an estate run by the passionate and humble Nacho Gonzalez in Galicia, Spain - this particular moment is worthy of word 'perfect,' as we are able to offer several wines from the 2021 vintage as well as his never-before-released parcel wines...

12/17/2022 (Sansonnière wines at a tasting in 2020) Mark Angeli of the Ferme de la Sansonnière is a paysan-vigneron, and an ecological activist. If one character can embody the wine revolution that is happening in the Loire, and more specifically in Anjou, he is without a doubt a serious contender. And his wines are also snapped up all around the world, true unicorns -...

12/15/2022 Organic farming in the Medoc at Closeries des Moussis (January 2018) Chambers Street is proud to support estates in Bordeaux that practice organic and Biodynamic farming, still unfortunately a very small minority in the region.  Today's email focuses on organic estates that also practice more natural styles of winemaking, with minimal intervention in the cellar - wild yeast fermentations, minimal new oak and...

12/2/2022 [Armand Heitz in Pommard (Courtesy of T. Edward Wines)] Talk to any serious Burgundy grower these days about what is on their mind and you will likely hear the same refrain. How does the region preserve the delicacy and balance of its wines in the face of an increasingly warm and volatile climate? They are tackling the problem head-on, adjusting long-accepted attitudes towards...