Renan Cancino is a minimalist and proud traditionalist winemaker. All of his wines get hand-destemmed on a the zaranda, fermented, foot stomped and then aged in old wooden barrels. Here the... read more →
Why oh why oh why isn’t there more carignan in California? The grape suits the place and climate so very well. And up in Mendocino? It so often seems brilliant.... read more →
Derek Mossman Knapp started this project—reclaiming and celebrating the ancient vines of Chile—shortly after the 2010 earthquake. One of my favorites was Lot #46. Even though the Parker rag, Wine... read more →
The Guarilihue region of Itata was long known for its small plots of hilly, fabulous terroir. That’s the homeland for Tinajacura’s fruit. This wine is made with old, own-rooted cinsault... read more →
In 2013, the Los Pilares was a foot-stomped glory. If you remember the previous vintage you’ll get the difference; in part it’s due to vintage, part to different fruit sourcing... read more →
From 500 meters up, at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains in the Rousillon AOC of southern France, comes a wine squarely in the inexpensive and (very, very) cheerful category.... read more →
Maca and Thomas made this wine from a mix of adjacent vineyards of granitic soils. The cinsault and carignan grapes are co-fermented and macerated on the skins for a brief... read more →
Remi Poujol was pouring his wines at the ‘off’ tasting, Les Anonymes in the Loire. His were my first spits of the morning and I was immediately plunked into a... read more →
Are you in the Cyril Fhal fan club? Why not? On his gneiss soils, he makes wine of pleasure and that extra element of depth. But, while this wine went... read more →
Philippe Bordes retired from plumbing and swapped out a drain snake for secateurs as he turned to the vineyards. From 9 hectares in Saint Chinian, with his wife Emma, they... read more →