When I poured the wine by candlelight and the yeasty smell hit the air, my friend asked, what is that, beer? “Beer made with grapes,” I quipped. There was something... read more →
Both José Pastor and Jenny & François work with Suriol, folks at the forefront of serious Cava. This particular cuvée for J&F is creamy, dry, nutty and refreshingly gentle. Once... read more →
Creamy in a roasted sweet root, light and frothy caramelized parsnip. Mystery and an element of flint. Accessible with a slight reductive edge that says, “Look at me!”
The poet vigneron from South Africa, Thomas Lubbe lives and works in Calce and continues to create wines that are lyrical. This one is a co-ferment of red and white... read more →
Francois-Xavier Dauré works with Tom Lubbe of Matassa, but also makes his own wine. It’s a good thing too, because the guy is talented. His wines were all over California... read more →
From a maker of some spectacular cava and pet’nats comes a remarkable skin contact macabeu. The wine is fermented in a combo of barrique and 600 liter clay amphora and... read more →
Simple, straightforward yet layered enough to give plenty of pleasure. Touches of fennel on the powerful, rose and violet inflected fruit with a bit of iron punch.
Remember the colorful graffiti bottle? That is in the past. Now as Texier’s basic wine we have a not-so-basic Chat Fou. It’s just shy of intense with a quiet grip... read more →
Unlike Joe, Hank kept this back a year before release. Even so, I gave my second bottle another five months of time in the bottle before opening it. The wine... read more →
Caleb Leisure went out on his own in 2017 and lucky for him, his mentor Tony Coturri allowed him to plant all of his ten Georgian qvevri on the Coturri... read more →