Alsace goes to Chile via André Ostertag who teamed up with some pals for this project. Soil is granitic (irrigated) in a sub region of the Casablanca valley. Vinified in... read more →
Looking for orange wine perfection, this could be the one. Twenty-two days on the skins, fermented in open top chestnut fermenters then aged for another two years in various sized... read more →
Cerasuolo sounds like a grape but it’s really a style that became a DOC in 2010. The difference from regular Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is the reduced skin contact so the wine... read more →
Lovers of Valentini and Emidio Pepe listen up: here’s another contender for brilliant traditional wines from Abruzzo. Vinified and partially raised in stainless then plunked in Slavonian and French oak.... read more →
This is an emotional wine. Full and light at the same time, like some luxurious silk drying on a line in the sun in the early morning.
Old world alert! Jacqueline André sidesteps the trend towards 100% grenache, embraces concrete and thus manages finesse and elegance, even with 14.5% abv. Cellar the powerful 2010s and 2011s—they’ll be... read more →
From Alain Coudert’s old vines, planted in 1930 or older, then aged up in wood. Right now, backward with plenty of structure and power. This needs some time to knit... read more →
D&R alert in 2011. Pricey, sure. Buy what you can. The white Crozes was like intense melon and ice. This Baties, was a little tough, but drunk two months later... read more →
Goyo is a bit of an intense maniac and he, like Francis Boulard in Champagne (what, you skipped that piece?), separated from his family to make natural wines. From high... read more →
Over the years the use of yeasts in sake has bugged me. No matter how high end, it seemed as if all sakes were too manipulated by aromatic yeasts, trying... read more →