There is a good reason why fans of white Burgundy are smiling. Wines from the underrated 2004 vintage are now on retailers’ shelves, thankfully replacing the 2003 vintage.
Prices for the 2004 white Burgundies are steady or even lower than ’03, with no signs of upward movement. … Read more
Spain, a country with a long history of wine production, is seeing an unparalleled renaissance in its wines. In the past few years, Spain has leaped to primacy among wine producing countries in putting exciting new wines on the market.
In some respects, the current renaissance in Spain resembles the remarkable resurgence witnessed in Italy during the 1970s and 1980s.… Read more
Maison Louis Latour’s Corton-Charlemagne is the benchmark wine for that grand cru vineyard. Always tightly wound when young, its remarkable character opens and expands with years-even decades-of age.
The conventional wisdom holds that white wines don’t benefit from aging and often loses something, but this does not apply to most grand cru white Burgundies and certainly not to Latour’s Corton-Charlemagne.… Read more
Everyone is familiar with the French Paradox: the French eat a diet rich in fat, but have a low rate of heart disease. Another French paradox is why Alsace Riesling is not more popular in the United States. By all rights, it should fly off the shelves.… Read more
Spain has the largest per capita consumption of seafood – after Japan – according to David Parker, Export Manager of Castillo Perelada, one of Spain’s leading wineries. But when I think of Spanish wines, it is the great reds from that country – Rioja, Priorat, Ribera del Duero – that leap to mind.… Read more
Prosecco, Italy’s unique and stellar contribution to the world of sparkling wine, must have been invented for summertime. Although the Italians drink it year round as an aperitif (consuming over two-thirds of the region’s 3 million case annual production), summer is the perfect discovery time for those unfamiliar with the joys of this light and “friendly” wine. … Read more
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano exemplifies the confusion surrounding Italian wine labels. This wine’s meteoric increase in quality over the past decade has yet to be matched by its price, so it’s definitely worth unraveling the name.
The Italians name their wines by place name, such as Chianti, or grape name — think Pinot Grigio — or both, Dolcetto d’Alba. … Read more
Everybody loves a deal, and some of the best deals in Bordeaux these days are the “second” wines of the top-rated Bordeaux properties. “Second wines” come from parcels of the vineyard or barrels in the cellar that, for whatever reason, just don’t measure up to the producer’s standard for that particular year.… Read more
The following notes are based on barrel samples tasted (unblinded) at the chateaux, at an unblinded tasting organized by the Cercle Rive Droite de Grands Vins de Bordeaux, an association of Right Bank producers, an unblinded tasting organized by Bill Blatch, a respected négociant, or at blind tastings organized by the Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux.… Read more
After a week in Bordeaux, where I tasted more than 400 wines from the 2005 vintage, there is no question that this is a great vintage for red, dry white and sweet white wines. Although nature was equally benevolent across the regions, winemaking techniques (how long to macerate, how much new wood) and decisions (when to pick) resulted in dramatically different styles of wine, especially in Saint-Emilion.… Read more
Shiraz (aka Syrah) is now firmly in place as Australia’s most popular grape–and wine. But it wasn’t always that way. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, plantings of Shiraz went down by half (to about 12,500 acres) because the Australian government paid growers to pull out vines as consumption of red table wine fell from fashion.… Read more
The labels say “product of Australia,” but red wines from Western Australia are about as un-Australian as you can get. Those expecting super ripe flavors and 15 percent alcohol so common in Australian wines are in for a major–and pleasant–surprise. These wines, whether made from Cabernet or Shiraz, have elegance, finesse and complexity.… Read more
The current fashion in wine, certainly in New World wines, is for ripe, fruity flavors and the massive alcohol that invariably accompanies them. Consumers looking for alternatives need to look outside the mainstream. Wines from New York State, which certainly qualify as “outside the mainstream,” offer an extra touch of ripeness that is the New World’s signature, while retaining vibrancy that a cool climate imparts.… Read more
It is the part of restaurant dining that most people dread. You are with a group of colleagues or friends, or perhaps on a special date. The conversation is flowing, everyone is relaxed and having a good time. Then, the waiter gives you the wine list.… Read more
Bait and switch, an unsavory tactic in the used-car business, is finding its way into the wine industry. Think of the bait as a New World reserve wine that is produced simply to generate a 90-point-plus score from a top wine critic.… Read more
The major criticisms of wines from the New World are that they have too much fruit and alcohol and too little subtlety and elegance. Critics go on to say that these wines are unbalanced and fail to develop complexity and layers of non-fruit flavors as they age.… Read more
The French speak passionately about terroir, a concept maintaining that the character of a wine comes from the unique climate and soil where the grapes are grown. They claim grapes are mere vehicles for transmitting the flavor of the earth into the wine from which they are crafted.… Read more
Christian Moueix, perhaps the most influential wine figure in Pomerol and St. Émilion where he oversees his family’s ten properties, also owns Dominus Estate in the Napa Valley. During a recent trip to California to supervise activities at Dominus, he stopped in Boston and we met and tasted for three illuminating hours in my kitchen.… Read more
Perhaps people who spend their entire life with Merlot become like the wine: easy-going and charming, without hard edges. That describes Christian Moueix, a man who is remarkably straightforward, especially for someone so important and influential in the world of wine.… Read more
Although they may lack the cachet of wines from small growers, such as Lafarge or Mongeard-Mugneret, the Burgundies made by négociants, especially in 2002, are not to be missed. Négociants are companies, either large or small, that buy grapes or newly made wines in bulk from growers.… Read more