Category Archives: WRO Articles

Articles, France - Burgundy, WRO Articles

Hautes Côtes, Part 3: Producers in the Know

As I explained in Part 1 of this profile series, the Hautes Côtes is poised to take off as the next “in” Burgundy appellation because of climate change and affordable prices for vineyards: https://apsteinonwine.com/2026/01/02/the-hautes-cotes-the-next-hot-spot-for-affordable-burgundy-part-1/. Part 2 detailed some of the new producers who are taking advantage of the opportunities there: (https://apsteinonwine.com/2026/02/11/hautes-cotes-part-2-new-producers-in-the-next-hotspot-for-affordable-burgundy/… Read more

Articles, Wine and Health, WRO Articles

Reconsidering a Dry January: Could Drinking Wine be Beneficial to Your Health?

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

Articles, WRO Articles

Domaine Huet: The Jewel of Vouvray

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

Articles, WRO Articles

Tignanello Transformed Chianti Classico

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

Articles, WRO Articles

Quality Mexican Wine? Surely, You Jest?

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

Articles, France - Rhône Valley, WRO Articles

Look to the Rhône for Summertime Drinking

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

Articles, Italy - Tuscany, WRO Articles

Chianti Classico: A Perennial Favorite

Tasting through hundreds of Chianti Classico wines from the 2020, 2021, 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. 
… Read more
Articles, USA - California, WRO Articles

Remembering Mike Grgich: The Man Who Put California Wines on the Map

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

Articles, Terroir, WRO Articles, WRO Reviews

Terroir is Alive and Well on Mount Etna

One of things I adore about wine is how it expresses Mother Nature.  The same grape grown in adjacent vineyards and turned into wine by the same winemaking team can taste very different.  Winemakers attribute the differences to the composition of the soil (limestone, clay, or sand) exposure to the sun (do the grapes benefit from the gentler warming of the morning sun or the more intense afternoon sun?),
… Read more
Articles, France - Rhône Valley, WRO Articles

Object Lesson in Excellence: E. Guigal’s Côte-Rôtie “Château d’Ampuis” 2019

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

Articles, Greece, WRO Articles

A Greek White Instead of Rosé

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

Articles, France - Burgundy, WRO Articles

Maison Louis Latour Made Outstanding 2020s

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

Articles, France - Burgundy, WRO Articles

Aligoté: Burgundy’s Other White Grape

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

Articles, USA - Oregon, WRO Articles

Bells Up: A Tiny New Oregon Estate

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

Articles, France - Burgundy, WRO Articles

2019 Burgundies: A Mixed Bag

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