Domaine Paul Mas NV Blanquette de Limoux Méthode Ancestrale St. Hilaire: Whoa! This bubbly has a honeysuckle-driven nose with a peach pie palate! It’s not often I taste pure Mauzac, yet this one packs plenty of come-hither attraction that reminds me it’s a great way to finish off a meal.
Read MoreI hope this wine will be made only once. I write that only because of the extraordinary circumstances under which it was created, not because of the wine. The wine is perfectly delightful.
Read MoreI recently learned that Limoux was the second most-imported-to-the-USA French, traditional method sparkler after Champagne. Who knew?
Read MoreAs Pinot Noir from Burgundy becomes ever more expensive, I’ve been keen to learn more about some of the region’s more budget friendly Pinot Noirs. That search led to me the Yonne, Burgundy’s northernmost département
Read MoreBordeaux En Primeur 2016 was my first, verging-on-excellence En Primeur campaign. The top end turned out wines that were easy to be choosy about. So much the better when you’re forking over big digits two years before you receive the wines. The vintage also allowed for plenty of charming wines that will be pleasant to drink as well as ones that are overly ambitious. Regardless the appellation, it was exciting to see who teased out just a bit more of everything in their expressions of the vintage through their terroir.
Read MoreI don’t drink a lot of Alsace wines, yet when I do, I remind myself to drink them more often. The same scenario repeated itself over the last week, as I tasted these three wines. So many wines, so little time. This time around, I’m thoroughly motivated to buy here, especially the Pinots, which offer fantastic value.
Read MoreSome wines stop you in mid-thought. They tend to be polarizing and are either heart-stoppingly delicious or revolting. This is a beauty.
Read MoreAnother year, another en primeur campaign. How long this system can sustain itself? It seems every year the fuse gets shorter. What 2015 offers is a highly mixed bag. There’s something for everyone, but without careful research, everyone may not love what he or she purchases.
Read MoreI’ll never say “No” to Burgundy, especially red Burgundy. Love me some Pinot Noir! Just to offer one reason, these three wines are each strikingly different in both style and price point. Burgundy offers more diversity than most of us expect.
Read MoreLa Chablisienne 2014 Petit Chablis Pas Si Petit: This cuvée is composed of fruit from over 280 grape growers dedicated to one of France’s best cooperatives! Its laser-like acidity initially gives the wine a chiseled feel on the palate, but a swarm of fruit quickly follows to make this accessible and easy to sip.
Read MoreIn a time when 20-year-olds are either Google prodigies or career college students, it is hard to image that Pierre Taittinger began building his Champagne legacy at age 20. He wouldn’t even be legal to drink in the US today! Yet almost 84 years ago, after having served in the Champagne region during World War I, he purchased a tattered bubbly business (originally established in 1734.)
Read MoreThere’s a sad misperception that Bordeaux is either utterly unaffordable or really, really bad. It’s true that most of us don’t buy much of super fancy stuff these days as their prices are, indeed, dizzyingly high. However, even in difficult vintages, Bordeaux – like the rest of the world – generally makes darn good wine today.
Read MoreThe 2010 and 2012 show vibrantly rich fruit with tendancies toward the blacker end of the fruit range. The 2011 shows the most perkiness, both in its redder fruit character as well as its refreshing acidity and lower alcohol. The 2014 white is fresh and highly drinkable.
Read MoreWine folks – myself included – often look skeptically upon Bordeaux Supérieur. What’s so superior about a few extra years of vine age in a region that actually keeps its vines quite young? Sure, Supérieur wines age at least nine months before release as well, often in some sort of barrel…but, they don’t have to. At least Supérieur doesn't refer to a half percent of extra alcohol here.
Read MoreWhen I see Pomerol, I envision one of those old school cash registers, the ones with dollars popping up one after another on metal blades behind a glass window. Pomerol is a sort of insurance policy for high quality wine. You pay extra for the name, but you sweat less as you wait for your dining companions’ verdicts.
Read MoreWith 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, this blend is particularly generous in Cabernet Sauvignon for an Haut-Médoc. The Bordelais eat lots of meat with their husky reds, so I naturally turned in that direction.
Read MoreMerlot isn’t a grape that particularly moves me, except when it comes from Saint-Émilion. Yes, those wines are blended with Cabernet Franc and sometimes Cabernet Sauvignon, but Merlot almost always predominates in both flavor and structure. From Saint-Émilion comes Merlot in all its svelte, not hefty, glory. That’s a style I can relish.
Read MoreI would think Alsace would be more appreciated in the US considering how the US loves richness stemming from viscosity. Yet whatever the textural appeal, Alsace often has what is for most US imbibers an odd earthy element. Typically, that aromatic deepens as the wines become older. However, these three Grand Crus seem to defy the stereotypes.
Read MoreIt is such a shame that the wine world these days makes a proclamation on a vintage just as it slides out of its fermenter into an aging vessel. (In fact, it’s often done well before.) Dialed-in wine lovers know it’s absurd, but many still dose-up on the fear of buying the wrong vintage. A fine example is Bordeaux’s 2011 vintage, which is still a bit tight and wound-up, yet it is opening up now to offer some excellent, mid-term drinkability.
Read MoreThe world is awaiting the release of Beaujolais Nouveau, but there's cracking good Beaujolais of all sorts and deeper dimensions ready on your retail shelf now. Here are just a few examples, and each is well worth the few extra bucks. Santé!
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