Editor’s Note: Our Senior Columnist, Michael Apstein, MD, FACG, is a gastroenterologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. If some of the material in this column sounds familiar, it is because the author uses portions of an article published on this site on December 10, 2025, to explain why drinking wine may be beneficial to health.… Read more
I am excited by the current wines coming from Burgundy’s Hautes Côtes because they deliver the charm and weightlessness of Burgundy at prices that we 99-percenters can afford. So, I’ve broken down what would have been a very long article into two parts.… Read more
Editor’s Note: For this scientifically oriented article, I should note up-front the credentials of WRO’s Senior Columnist Michael Apstein, MD, FACG. Dr. Apstein is a gastroenterologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.… Read more
Wine drinkers I speak to believe that “value” and “Bordeaux” don’t belong in the same sentence. There’s no question that the prices fetched today by the 60 Cru Classé wines are not bargains, except perhaps to the one-percenters. However, bargains do exist in Bordeaux, and they are easy to find.… Read more
The calling card of Montefalco, a gem of a hill-town in Umbria, is Sagrantino, a grape that makes robust, high alcohol, tannic red wine. Earlier this year, the Consorzio Tutela Vini Montefalco invited me to their annual tasting that showcases their red wines, Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG and Rosso di Montefalco DOC.… Read more
Sarah Hwang, whose family owns the iconic Domaine Huet in Vouvray, states emphatically, “Demi-sec is the strength of Vouvray.” Though the literal translation of demi-sec is “half dry,” wines labeled as such will have notable sweetness. What makes the demi-sec, and the even sweeter wines of Vouvray (plus other sweet wines from the Loire, like Coteaux du Layon or Quarts de Chaume) sensational is the riveting and balancing acidity that energizes the palate.… Read more
Get this. In Montefalco, producers actually use Sangiovese to soften Sagrantino, their signature grape. Remember, white grapes were used to soften the structured Sangiovese in the 19th century in the original Chianti recipe. That tells you pretty much all you need to know about Sagrantino, a grape that’s been described as the most tannic in Italy.… Read more
At 25 years of age, the 1999 Tignanello is a masterpiece.
Antinori’s Tignanello was a revolutionary, ground-breaking, and paradigm-shifting wine when it was released in the 1970s. Although the use of small French oak barrels (barriques), the incorporation of Cabernet in the blend, and the elimination of white grapes is now common in Chianti Classico, those ideas were unheard of at that time.… Read more
Conventional wisdom holds that grapes from old vines make better wine. The science behind that conventional wisdom is fuzzy, which of course, leads to a plethora of explanations. One sensible one is that older vines yield fewer grapes but that those grapes have more “oomph”—they’ve concentrated the same amount of energy into a smaller volume.… Read more
In addition to Japan’s longstanding tradition of producing sake, the country has a burgeoning wine industry. Although sake is becoming more widely available in the U.S., Japan wine (koshu) is difficult to find here. One of the joys of coming to Japan in general and Tokyo in particular is to learn about these beverages and how they pair with Japanese cuisine.… Read more
Many wine journalists and sommeliers look down their collective noses at Tuscan Vermentino. They believe that the only “real” Vermentino comes from just a few specific locations: Sardinia (Vermentino di Sardegna, or the even more exalted Vermentino di Gallura), Corsica, or Liguria (where the grape is known as Pigato, most notably in Coli di Luni DOC).… Read more
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a Tuscan Sangiovese-based DOCG, just like Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino, has never had the popularity of those other two areas. The 2021 vintage should change that.
Confusion surrounding the name might explain part of Vino Nobile’s underappreciated status.… Read more
Chablis, although a part of Burgundy, has not yet received the memo that the wines should be priced in the stratosphere like their more southern cousins in the Côte d’Or. Except for a few producers, the wines from Chablis remain the great source for bargains in the category of white Burgundy.… Read more
In the Mâconnais, Pouilly-Vinzelles and Pouilly-Loché finally received their deserved recognition with identification of Premier Crus vineyards, those sites that have the potential to produce superior wine. These two appellations now join Pouilly-Fuissé, the best-known Mâconnais village, where regulators identified 22 vineyards as Premier Cru starting with the 2022 vintage.… Read more
With the 2018 vintage, Chianti Rùfina introduced a new level of classification, called “Terraelectae,” to sit atop their pyramid of quality. With the 2020 vintage the Chianti Rùfina producers upped their game again by showing just how distinctive and noteworthy this new category of wine is.… Read more
Indeed, I do not. During a week-long family vacation to Mexico City over Christmas last year, we drank a range of intriguing and excellent wines from Mexico, along with Tequila, Mezcal and beer, of course. My takeaway message, in addition to finding some surprisingly good Sauvignon Blancs, Nebbiolos, and orange wines, was the seeming attitude of “let’s see what works.” … Read more
Wines from Alsace are labeled by grape, not place, which makes them unique among top quality AOC (appellation origine controllée) French wines. The French label all other top-quality AOC wines by place name—where the grapes grown—Chablis, Bordeaux, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fuissé—to name just four of the hundreds of names. … Read more
My friends say that I hate rosé. I don’t. I just think there are many far more interesting alternatives. (Here, we’re talking about still wine, not rosé Champagne, which is heavenly.) Most rosé is innocuous. “I’ll have a glass of rosé,” has replaced “I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay” as shorthand for “I want a glass of wine—I don’t need to know anything else about it.” … Read more
There’s no question that terroir—the concept that wines reflect the individual and unique site where the grapes grow—exists in Barolo. How could it not? With myriad growing plots differing by soil, exposure, and elevation, the Barolo DOCG produces hundreds of different wines, all from the same grape, Nebbiolo. … Read more
and 2022 vintages over two days reminded me why Chianti Classico is, justifiably, so popular around the world. The setting for the tastings was the venerable — and quite enormous — train station in Florence where every year the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico (the organization that represents producers) presents some 700-plus samples of Chianti Classico spanning several recent vintages and all quality levels. Let me get straight to the point. The 2019 vintage for Brunello di Montalcino is fabulous! I make this assessment after tasting 35-plus examples of the recently bottled and released wines in New York City in November. There wasn’t a loser in the bunch. … Read more
Let me cut directly to the chase, or rather, the bottom line: Buy as much of the 2022 Burgundies—both red and white—as your budget allows. I give this advice after having been astonished by the results of my annual tasting trip to Burgundy in November. … Read more
The wine world lost a giant last month. Miljenko “Mike” Grgich, the man who thrust California wine onto the world’s stage, died at age 100 at his home in Calistoga in the Napa Valley.
Grgich, more than anyone, is responsible for California’s reputation as a place that could make great wine when his 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay took first place at a wine competition that pitted France’s best white Burgundies against upstarts from California. … Read more
The Guigal family, the elder Marcel and his wife Bernadette, and their son Philippe and his wife Eve, have always focused on site specificity in the great Northern Rhône appellation of Côte-Rôtie. It started in 1966 when they bottled wine separately from La Mouline, a 2.5-acre vineyard planted with both Syrah and Viognier, in an amphitheater on the Côte Blonde slope of the appellation. … Read more
No one wants to be second. Nobody strives to come in second. Second place is just not built-in to our DNA. For example, my daughter, a NCAA Gold Medal winner coxswain during college, referred to a Silver Medal winner—2nd place—as “the first loser.” … Read more
The French have always played an important role in the American wine industry. Burgundy-born Paul Masson started making wine in California in the late 19th century, followed by Georges de la Tour, founder of Beaulieu Vineyards, in 1900. The second wave started in 1973 when Moët et Chandon established Domaine Chandon in Napa Valley. … Read more
The French wine authorities, Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité (INAO), are notoriously rigid and immoveable. However, they are poised to change the pecking order in the Rhône, putting the wines from Laudun on a level, administratively, at least, with Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas. … Read more
Memorial Day means summer, which, of course to some people means rosé. But for me it means light to mid-weight white wines with energy, verve, and most of all, character. There are lots of French whites that fit that category, from zippy Muscadet to flinty village Chablis, to simple Bourgogne Blanc, to racy Sancerre. … Read more
In 1979, Ugo Conti Bonacossi, owner of Tenuta di Capezzana, the leading estate in Carmignano, created a unique Super Tuscan wine, Ghiaie della Furba (literally, pebbles along the Furba stream). It should come as no surprise that a grower in Carmignano should make a Super Tuscan because, after all, Carmignano, not Bolgheri, was the birthplace of the concept. … Read more
Founded in 1797 and still family owned and operated, Maison Louis Latour is one of Burgundy’s top producers. In addition to their own 120 acres of vineyards (over half of which are Grand Cru, making them the largest owner of Grand Cru vineyards in Burgundy) they are one of Burgundy’s best négociants as well. … Read more
Even a brief glance at on-line ads from wine retailers shows that Côte d’Or Burgundy has become prohibitively expensive for everyone except the so called “one-percenters” at the very peak of the wealth pyramid. And I’ve seen even some of them balk at the prices. … Read more
The 2020 vintage in Burgundy, currently on the market, is the third hot—temperature wise—vintage in a row. It’s also a “hot” vintage judging from some critics’ reviews and retailers’ enthusiasm. Hot vintages are tricky, especially in Burgundy. The good news about growing seasons with hot, sun-drenched days is that the wines have ripe flavors and lack green, unripe ones and the accompanying palate-searing acidity. … Read more
Rosé naturally comes to mind when thinking of the wines from Provence. But I’m here to tell you that at least one appellation in the region, Les Baux de Provence, makes terrific reds. They also make excellent rosés. Yes, you read that correctly. … Read more
The hot and muggy days of summer call for zippy refreshing wines. While many people reach for rosés at this time of the year, I find most of them to be innocuous, lacking character. Instead, I suggest trying Spanish whites from Rueda. … Read more
White Burgundy is made from Chardonnay, right? Well, mostly. There’s another white grape in Bourgogne, Aligoté, that makes zippy, energetic wines perfect for summertime, and ones that are — I might add — are mostly affordable. Not an afterthought, Bourgogne Aligoté is treated with respect by top end producers, such as Coche-Dury, whose $300+ per bottle rendition is definitely not in the “affordable wine” category. … Read more
The house of Albert Bichot made an outstanding line-up of both red and white Burgundies in 2020, no mean feat since the growing conditions made success with both colors difficult because of the heat. Many critics, myself included, have raved about the overall success of the 2020 vintage for white Burgundies. … Read more
I’m just back from a week in Burgundy where I attended a spectacular week-long series of tastings, Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne, which turned out to be one of my best tasting experiences ever. Held biannually, visitors move from Chablis in the north to Mercurey in the Côte Chalonnaise, tasting wines from a group of villages each day. … Read more
With only a 600-case annual total production, Bells Up is tiny, but their wines tell me their imprint will be huge. Bells Up is a musical term, and since I know little about music, I will quote from their website: “‘Bells Up’ refers to a dramatic moment in classical music where the composer instructs French horn players to lift the bells of the 
instruments up and project sound with maximum intensity. … Read more
The 2020 Burgundies, both reds and whites, are, in short, excellent, making it the the best vintage from that area since 2015. It’s been over a decade—2010—since a vintage has excelled in both colors. Offers for these 2020s as futures are just starting to appear. … Read more
Siepi, a single vineyard blend of roughly equal amounts of Sangiovese and Merlot, is a true Super Tuscan wine. The vineyard, believed to be one of the oldest in Italy, dates from the 15th century if not earlier, its existence having been noted in a document from 1435. … Read more
The great success of the 2016 vintage throughout Tuscany suggested that the just-released 2016 Brunello would be memorable. Is it ever! To my mind, it is, by far, the best vintage since 2010. I certainly prefer the 2016s in general to the more powerful and overdone Brunello from the much-hyped 2015 vintage. … Read more
While consistency is rarely a word used when describing Burgundies, the 2019 Burgundies present the consumer with an even greater-than-usual stylistic variation. The usual suspects explain the diversity of the wines: Frost, poor flowering, and heat. Frost, which affected areas almost capriciously—some vineyards lost 40 percent of their grapes, while adjacent ones were spared—reduced the crop in many appellations. … Read more
The world loves Beaujolais. And for good reason. The various red wines of the Beaujolais region provide something for everyone, from simple “everyday” pizza wine to far more serious and structured ones from the crus, the top ten named villages. Sometimes the wines from the crus do not even carry the word Beaujolais on the label. … Read more
Dr. Laura Catena, the managing director of Bodegas Catena Zapata, Argentina’s most famous winery, quips that her father, Nicolás Catena, must have known about fighting climate change before anyone else. In 1992, his neighbors considered him foolish when he started planting vines at high-altitude. … Read more
The 2017 vintage represents the 40th anniversary of I Sodi di S. Niccolò, a truly iconic Italian wine. It was likely the first Super Tuscans from Chianti Classico area using autochthonous grapes. It showed—and continues to show—the extraordinary heights the wines from the Chianti Classico region can reach. … Read more
Readers may find it odd that I, who am generally unenthusiastic about rosé, should be writing about that category. And enthusiastically at that. However surprising that may be (even to me), I stumbled across a category of rosé, Bardolino Chiaretto DOC, that is stunning. … Read more