Loimer NV Rosé Brut Sekt Reserve: This sekt stretches the imagination. A blend of Zweigelt, Pinot Noir and St. Laurent, it would be hard to place it in a blind tasting, even if its fruit purity, fine perlage and long finish clearly place it in a high quality region.
Read MoreThis quartet, indeed, sings with harmony. Each wine overdelivers for its price point. The Il Ghizzano Rosso, Venerosso 2016 and Nambrot drink the most easily now, and each offers a distinctly different drinking experience. I fell head-over-heels for the Il Ghizzano Rosso!
Read MoreAiming to work in lockstep with nature, the Lageder family pursues environmental responsibility with the same fervor that it pursues great winemaking. They farm biodynamically and work with their contract growers to try to transform partner vineyards into organically or biodynamically managed ecocenters. This means little if the wines don't deliver, but they do with every vintage.
Read MoreThe Alois Lageder winery has a plethora of positive attributes: biodynamic farming, viticultural and winemaking history in the family dating to 1823, classy packaging, reasonable pricing and - of course - good wine. Interestingly, while Chardonnay has been in Alto Adige since 1835, it didn't become popular there until about 150 years later. Tasting this, I have to wonder why it took so long!
Read MoreThis is a delicious wine made in a unique quasi-collaboration between Southern Oregon's Troon Vineyard and Cowhorn Vineyard, in which Cowhorn sold Troon grapes while Troon's vineyards are being replanted. It is the only wine from Troon not made with its own, estate-grown grapes. Not surprisingly, the spirit of farming is the same at Cowhorn and Troon: all of the fruit is biodynamically farmed.
Read MoreFor all the years I have tasted Oregon wines, I was surprised to just stumble across these this year, especially as Cooper Mountain Vineyards is celebrating its 40th Willamette Valley harvest in 2018.
Read MoreI recently read a Geographic Expeditions newsletter that began with an excerpt from a Jonathan Keats piece titled “Why Wikipedia is as Important as the Pyramids” in Wired magazine. In it, Keats campaigns for Wikipedia to become the first digital World Heritage Site. His article debates the relevance of some of UNESCO’s 936 World Heritage Sites and outlines how UNESCO has grappled with the concept of intangible cultural heritage (for example, music versus monuments, mines or water systems). This brought to mind the bid by Burgundy’s Côte d’Or to classify its “climats”, or vineyards, among UNESCO’s hand-picked honorees. From my viewpoint, Burgundy’s climats cover both the intangible and the tangible angles of cultural heritage.
Read More