Value and splurge coexist in this deep collection, so peruse if you have the time. The Ryland Inn presumably inherited the cellar of the restaurant formerly inhabiting its space, accounting for its nice smattering of back vintages, including from regions other than you usually expect – namely Burgundy and Bordeaux.
Read MorePinot Noir, its clones and selections fascinate me. It’s a quixotic variety. For as much as I read about them, I’d never heard of the Wrotham Clone (pronounced Rootham) until now.
Read MoreHas Sean Thackrey done a 180°? This was my impression when I tasted the 2010 vintage of Pinot Noir Clone 114 from his new Cassiopeia project in the Wentzel Vineyard.
Read MoreChassagne-Montrachet Pinot Noir tends to be lean as the soils are quite high in limestone, and this trait was emphasized by the vintage’s cool weather.
Read MoreBonneau du Martray is the only domaine in Burgundy today that makes exclusively Grand Cru wine. Its vineyards sit on the very hill that produced wines loved by Charles the Great. That hill is called Corton
Read MoreLast week I met Davis Bynum. Davis was one of the modern pioneers of Russian River Valley. (The Russians who settled there in the early 1800s planted vines before the Gold Rush of 1849.) In fact, Davis was the first to produce a single vineyard Pinot Noir from the area AND indicate its origins on the label.
Read MoreMy dining companions promptly answered this question. Both hold Ph.Ds. and both are German Pinot Noir, or Spätburgunder, enthusiasts. Another dinner date with wine geeks….
Read MoreFiguring out where these clones come from is a bit like researching a family tree before the internet. There’s a fair bit of uncertainty amongst the researchers themselves, so where does that leave the rest of us? Luckily, the chart makes it pretty easy to cross-reference with its column titled “Also Known As”, in which almost every clone other than the Dijon clones show at least one other name. From the US Perspective, the source of Martini 58 is Louis Martini in the USA. From the New Zealand Perspective, the source of Clone 13 is UC Davis, USA. The Australians indicate two origins for their G8V3: UC Davis, USA and Switzerland. Now that we’ve figured that one out, let’s look at the David Bruce Clone. Apparently it was cultivated first by Paul Masson and then by Martin Ray in the US…but way back when, it immigrated from somewhere in the Côte d’Or.
Read MoreGiven my affection for Pinot Noir and Burgundy, and given the fact I’ve spent an incredible number of hours evaluating the quality of wines in order to pass the Master of Wine exam, I take quality references very seriously. However, within quality designations, there’s wiggle room. Last night provided a perfect example.
Read MoreThis Wednesday I attended an engaging, exploratory lunch hosted by Wines of Germany and led by my friend Jeannie Cho Lee MW. Here are some of the take-aways I found most fascinating: whereas Westerners tend to measure how much acidity is apparent in a wine, Asians tend to focus on how acidity feels on the palate; the progression of food and wine in a Chinese meal is quite different from that at a Western table….
Read More“Paul really likes to use ‘heritage’ clones.” Calera, Swan and Mt. Eden are among their Pinot Noir selections and Wente, Bato and Rudd are among the Chardonnay plantings.
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