So, what about 2018 Chablis? First, there's a lot of it. Second, the excellent, the good and the "meh" abound. Winemakers had a lot to contend with in the vineyards as well as in the cellars, making making the sundry results unsurprising. Fear not. If you know your budget (and do be aware in advance of the impacts the Trump administration's implemented and pending tariffs) and have a sense of your style preferences, and you'll do just fine.
Read MoreIsabelle Raveneau hired 33% more harvest helpers to bring in her 2018 crop. For the first time since 2011, her cellar was full; the domaine's full yield potential was reached. Moreover, she called the grapes "excellent", and Isabelle is not one to embellish. Neither the warmth of the vintage nor the house style marked the wines as much as their terroirs. In a region as distinctly diverse in terroir and as laser-focused on a single variety as Chablis, I always find that thrilling.
Read More"A lot of great wine was distilled in 2018," Vincent Dauvissat lamented. Vincent had never seen a vintage like 2018 - unprecedented, high volumes coupled with top quality. (At least chez lui, I'll insert with regard to the last bit. Not everyone was as successful as he was in managing the 2018 vintage.) Quelle frustration!
Read MoreToday is my last full day in Rome, so it seemed appropriate to share a few notes on the wines of Paolo e Noemia d'Amico, whose vineyards lie just 90 minutes north of The Eternal City. The duo's range includes five whites and four reds sourced from their property edged by extinct volcanos. The vineyard soils are tufa, as are the cellars. Paolo and Noemia, engaging in their second career together - this time in winemaking, began planting their vines here in 1985.
Read MoreFattoria Selvapiana has been a family business based high in the hills of Chianti Rufina for 133 years and five generations. These are wines of finesse and fragrance, whatever the vintage. Don't let the seemingly high alcohol levels lead you astray. Their refined balance delivers harmony via their multi-sensory experiences. The icing on the cake is the organic certification for all of the vineyards.
Read MoreYarden Wines 2015 Petit Verdot Galilee: The black currant, sloe and dark chocolate flavors sweep across the palate then veer into a toasty tasting and pleasantly tannic finish. The mouthwatering acidity kept my table reaching for their glasses. I might have been surprised at how quickly we finished the bottle, but I've had the same thing happen with many a Yarden wine before.
Read MoreTroon Vineyard 2018 Vermentino Kubli Bench Applegate Valley: Sleek and sexy, this is an enticing Vermentino. It has full-throttle flavor and an intriguing combination of structure and texture that keeps me going back to the glass. The flavors are so subtle as to be elusive. A whiff of flint. A wave of spring flowers. A suspicion of peach pit. It's like a game of catch-what-you-can as the wine evolves in the glass.
Read MoreChic and sleek, the single vineyard wines of Casarena will impress. The beautiful packaging, delicious wines and fair prices will thrill both the giver and the receiver this holiday season and beyond.
Read MoreIt's not often that I see a wine bearing the USDA Organic symbol. This is even more true of an imported wine. So, I was especially curious to taste these wines. It turns out that they sit squarely in the "natural" spectrum, as I expected.
Read MoreRhône Valley white wines generally are overlooked, save a few collectibles. Considering that only 6% of the region's volume of wine is white, that might not sound surprising. However, the Rhône Valley is France's second largest AOC. Still, it does turn out to be a very small amount of white wine when you run the math. Burgundy makes almost five times as much white wine in a good harvest! So, while everyone else is clamoring for hard-to-find Burgundies with much heftier price tags, shop for some of these rarer and far less pricey Rhône blancs!
Read MoreLa Valentina works exclusively with local varieties, also making the region's historical "giant" Trebbiano and Fiano. While the Pecorino and La Spelt Montepulciano kept stride with my expectations, I was a bit disappointed in the workhorse Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.
Read MoreDominio del Plata 2018 Malbec Crios Valle de Uco: Boldly brambly, this bracingly fresh Malbec screams varietal character, especially those typically coming from cooler climate Malbec. Behind the pristine pure fruit lies a gentle, seamless stream of tannin that gives the palate shape. However, it's the exuberantly fresh acidity that defines the tension here. I believe that it's one of the best Crios Malbecs of the many, many, many vintages that I have tasted.
Read MoreThe back label is signed "Viens Avec Nous", which means "Come With Us". While I wonder how many people understand that in the US, it does manage to seem appropriate for this blend of some of the Willamette Valleys "best of" (a nod to Jay Boberg's time in the music industry) vineyards. These include Nicolas-Jay's own Bishop Creek along with Temperance Hill, Hyland, Knight's Gambit and Momtazi.
Read MoreBoth of these wineries in the hands of the Tasca family sit on islands off the coast of Sicily. Mozia Island and Fondazione Whitaker sit in a lagoon to the north of Marsala on Siciliy's western coast while Tenuta Capofaro is on Salina Island on Sicily's northeastern side. I adore highly scented dry whites, and both wines definitively make my "fave" list, hence the "*" notations.
Read MoreFEL 2017 Chardonnay Savoy Vineyard Anderson Valley: Scrumptious and demonstrative, this texturally fueled, gastro tasting experience is as dynamic as ever.
Read MoreThe environment friendly pedigree of the Cline Family Cellars wines definitely feels good. Their back labels lay out their vision: Sonoma County Sustainable, Vegan and Gluten Free (note: all wine is gluten free) with nods to "renew and reuse".
Read MoreThere's nothing like tasting the wines from the winery where Chianti was created! It was at the Castello di Brolio in central Tuscany that Baron Bettino Ricasoli first debuted his 30-year research project in 1872, today called Chianti Classico. Striving to remain at the edge of innovation in an ever more-competitive wine industry, Ricasoli is a local leader in vineyard mapping and clonal research. These "cru" wines are all enticing, each in its own way.
Read MoreI recall Viña Vik hitting the US wine scene about five years ago. The labels jumped into the wine fray with great fanfare. The wide range of vintages was interesting to taste, and they prove that the wines - at least these specific bottlings - can age to benefit. However, they made it harder to see the stylistic winemaking differences between the wines.
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 MoreI was intrigued to taste this wine when I read on the back label, "Hand-crafting fine wines since 1972." I'd never heard of Sullivan. However, it certainly doesn't lack pedigree: this 26- acre Rutherford estate was planted by James O'Neil Sullivan at the urging of Napa legend-by-way-of-Moscow André Tchelistcheff.
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