New Energy in the Less Familiar Territory of Touraine in The Heart of The Loire Valley; A Place Where Talented Artisanal Vignerons are Introducing Changes and Reinvention. Two Packs: Red Touraine 11-Bottle Pack ($369) & White Touraine 12-Bottle Pack ($369)

Touraine may not grab the vinous headlines of, say, Sancerre or Vouvray, but in ways it is the aesthetic paradigm for the region: Made of castles and gardens and vineyards lining the capricious and majestic Loire from Anjou in the…

- - -
Posted on 2024.07.25 in Cheverny, Coteaux-du-Loir, Cour-Cheverny, Touraine Azay-le-Rideau, Touraine, Coteaux-du-Loir, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Loire  |  Read more...

 

A Veritable Revolution in Sancerre: Stéphane Riffault is Creating Wines of Texture, That are Singular, and True to Themselves. (Seven-Bottle Pack $299: Two Red and Five White)

A communion with the soil is the most important relationship a winemaker will ever forge, and nowhere is this demonstrated more reliably than in Sancerre, where three distinct soil types produce a split-personality of wine characteristics. This may be something…

- - -
Posted on 2024.07.20 in Sancerre, Rosé de Loire, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Loire  |  Read more...

 

The French Climate Divide: 2023 Rosés Show The Difference Between Warm-Climate (Mediterranean) and Cool-Climate (Oceanic) Fruit. Ten Types, Spanning the Two, by Seventeen Producers. A Dozen Rosés $349 – A Holiday Sampler.

Two things that France and the United States share: A red, white and blue flag and a passion for rosé. So, while we’re celebrating both on the Fourth of July, we’ll take the opportunity to offer a springboard to this…

- - -
Posted on 2024.07.05 in Côtes-du-Rhône, Rosé de Loire, Anjou, cassis, Bandol, Menetou-Salon, Santenay, Chinon, Sancerre, Côte-de-Provence, France, Beaujolais, Wine-Aid Packages, Loire, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

 

Mining the Minerality in Riesling: Dry Alsatian Wines Demonstrate Transparency and Express the Distinctive Character of Vineyards in Which the Grapes are Grown. Twenty-One Wines by Ten Outstanding Producers.

There’s no reason why the term ‘minerality’ should be controversial in wine descriptions, but since it is, maybe it’s better to think of it like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart did pornography: “I may not be able to define it,…

- - -
Posted on 2024.06.27 in France, Wine-Aid Packages, Alsace, Costers del Segre  |  Read more...

 

Hard Cidre is Built for The Heat: Light-bodied, Agile, Versatile and Low in Alcohol, Whether Sparkling or Still. 6-Bottle Pack for $129 (750 ml) ‘Amour’ – By the Dozen $99 (330-ml Bottles)

According to the ‘superstore’ timetable, once the Fourth of July is in the can, it’s time for us to start buying Halloween decorations. While we prefer to avoid feeding the retail rascal before its time, there is one beverage typically…

- - -
Posted on 2024.06.26 in Cidre, France, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

Bloomsday Commemoration (June 16) – Jurassic Odyssey: Chablis Elevates Terroir to Its Most Precise Expression. Exploring Grand Crus and Premier Crus Over Three Vintages, in Three Sampling Packages.

2024 marks the hundred-and-second anniversary of the release of James Joyce’s modernist masterpiece ‘Ulysses,’ and a few venerable souls who purchased a copy on the day it came out are still trying to wade through it. Not everyone agrees on…

- - -
Posted on 2024.06.15 in Chablis, France, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Finds Its Balance: Two Domaines Show The Craveable Attraction of The Wine’s Combined Intellectual and Hedonistic Elements

Gifts Fit For A Great Father’s Day Fathers come in all stripes and strengths, of course, and so no wine can serve as a ‘one-size-fits-all.’  But if ever a wine comes close, it’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Or, for our purposes, Châteauneuf-du-Papa. Like…

- - -
Posted on 2024.06.10 in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Lirac, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

 

The Enduring Beauty Of Beaujolais Great As Well As Joyous Wines. Distinctive Enough To Bear More Specific Appellations And Individual Parcels. Domaine de Vernus, A New Face, In Five Crus. 7-Bottle Pack For $264

Memorial Day is a time to reflect on mortality as well as to celebrate the rebirth of warmth and leisure time. No wine captures the complexity emotions better than Beaujolais, which can be light and lyrical as well as profound…

- - -
Posted on 2024.05.23 in Regnie, Chenas, Chirouble, Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Beaujolais-Villages, France, Beaujolais, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

Meet The Introverted Extroverts Of Spanish Wines: Galicia Winemakers Render Modern Interpretations By Learning The Intricacies Of The Land And How It Is Expressed Through Its Heritage Varieties.

Contrast has always animated the soul of wine; the subtle way that sugar plays against acid while fruit notes wrangle savory undercurrents. Wine is about transformation—fermentation is a pretty radical transmutation, after all—a metamorphosis of grape juice from the plebian…

- - -
Posted on 2024.05.16 in Spain DO, Wine-Aid Packages, Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra, Rias Biaxas  |  Read more...

 

Chalk About Champagne: With a Balance Between Fruit, Finesse and Structure, The Sparkling Chardonnays of Côte des Blancs Are Some of The Most Compelling White Wines Made Today.

“I am tasting stars!” Dom Perignon’s famous quote, reported to have been uttered upon his first taste of Champagne, is likely apocryphal, but the trio of stars that align in a cold, northerly slice of France that sits on the…

- - -
Posted on 2024.05.13 in Crémant du Bourgogne, France, Champagne, Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

next