Redefining Spanish Wines: Catalunya’s Deeply Rooted, Daringly Innovative Wine Culture In The New Age Four Neo-vignerons (9-Bottle Red, White & Rosé Pack For $285)

All Things Catalunyan:  Join Us for Saturday Sips To Usher In “La Diada de Sant Jordi’ ‘La Diada de Sant Jordi’ falls on April 23 in the Catalan holiday calendar, a day of books and roses, and it is a great…

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Posted on 2024.04.23 in Saturday Sips Wines, France, Penedes, Priorat DOQ, Wine-Aid Packages, Catalunya, Costers del Segre  |  Read more...

 

A Year In Burgundy: The Incomparable 2015 Côte de Nuits Wines Realize Their Potential, And Articulately Express The Distinctive Characters Of The Region’s Diverse Terroirs

What do you get when you blend an ideal vintage with top terroirs and then let the wine mature within a perfect setting for nearly a decade? You get the ideal expression of Pinot Noir in all its textural plenitude,…

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Posted on 2024.04.02 in Chambolle-Musigny, Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Vougeot, Morey-Saint-Denis, Premeaux-Prissey, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Marsannay, Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey-Chambertin, France, Burgundy, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

Rosés Deserve To Live A Little: 2021 Rosés in Full Bloom, Show Character And Dimensions With Two Years of Maturity … 13-Bottle Pack $299 (Limited)

Any remaining stigma attached to rosé remains within the dark soul of the stigmatized; those of us on the right side of wine appreciation understand that rosé is enjoying the fruits—quite literally—of its historical labor. This is especially true in…

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Posted on 2024.03.22 in Terrasses du Larzac, Gigondas, Côte-de-Provence, Rosé de Loire, Anjou, cassis, Bandol, Luberon, Ventoux, Bordeaux, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, Provence, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

 

Gigondas Steps Out of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s Shadows: A Dozen Southern Rhône Producers Make The Case Gigondas 2021 & 2020 Ten-Bottle Pack For $399 + A Rhône With Substance, But No Pretense 12-Bottle ‘Cairanne’ Pack For $159 (Limited)

The long shadow cast by Châteauneuf-du-Pape over Southern Rhône is bit like Mount Doom’s shadow over Mordor, only with a bit more garrigue and spice. So synonymous has the powerhouse cru been with style and standing in the region that…

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Posted on 2024.03.05 in Cairanne, Côtes-du-Rhône, Gigondas, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

 

Champagne Haute Couture: Jean-François Clouet, An Outstanding Practitioner of Pinotism, Stitches Together Bouzy’s Finest Parcels into Grand Expressions

In any assemblage, individual grape varieties will find their niche; each performs according to its purpose and potential, whether it is power, perfume or polish. In Champagne, the Big Three—Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier—jockey for position in the hearts of…

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Posted on in France, Champagne, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

Second Thoughts: Fabled Château Ausone Re-releases Aged Second Wine ‘Chapelle d’Ausone’ In Three Vintages: 2011, 2012 And 2016 + Current Releases: 2019 And 2020

In Bordeaux, a Château has the right to sell all of its production under the name of its domain, yet they rarely do. Based on vine age vs. current yield, producers occasionally replant vineyard plots and it generally takes a…

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Posted on 2024.02.22 in Saint-Emilion, France, Bordeaux, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

Côte des Bar For The Course: Champagne Fleury, An Ecological Pioneer Is In Pursuit Of “Understanding And Enhancing Terroir’s Character” Eleven New Releases

Although it sounds a bit contradictory, ‘doing what comes naturally’ is often an exacting science and a dedicated quest, and nowhere in Champagne is this more evident than in the fields and cellars of Domaine Fleury, the Côte des Bar…

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Posted on 2024.02.21 in France, Champagne, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

Champagne By Any Other Name: Two Dozens Rose-Tinted Champagne. Eighteen Producers Show Different Styles And Capture Diversity of Soils.

Sugar and spice are nice, but you prefer a bit more ‘brut’ with your Valentine’s Day sparkle, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that Champagne Rosé is often drier than it’s golden counterpart. Sweeter rosé styles exist, of course,…

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Posted on 2024.02.12 in France, Champagne, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

Lure Of The Loire II: A Wide Range Of Red Varieties, Soils And Microclimates Allow For A Diversity Of Wines And Styles By Upstart Generation

The media engine behind French wine seems driven primarily by two wheels—Burgundy and Bordeaux—while the Loire is often relegated to third-wheel status. And it’s not from want of praise: The vivid, crisp, hauntingly aromatic and almost supernaturally focused wines of…

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Posted on 2024.02.02 in Chinon, Saumur-Champigny, Touraine, Anjou, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Loire  |  Read more...

 

The Paradox of Chenin: Three Neo-vignerons Use The Variety To Explore Anjou Noir’s Microclimates And Soil Complexity With Unique Collection Of Grand Crus And Single-plots

Chenin shares some traits with Marilyn Monroe; it’s blonde, beautiful, rather dreamy and frisky… and, of course, it’s easily exploited. Chenin certainly has a tawdry side (the generic jugs—no pun—from Gallo, circa the 1970s), but when allowed to shine—as Monroe…

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Posted on 2024.01.26 in Savennières, Coteaux-du-Layon, Quarts-de-Chaume, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Loire  |  Read more...

 

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