Tonight, on the spur of the moment, Kerry descended into the cellar and brought up a bottle of Meursault 1er Cru “Charmes” 1990 from Bitouzet-Prieur to enjoy with our dinner (a couple of steamed lobsters). It is a remarkable experience to enjoy a fine white Burgundy at the age of 22 years, one that is
In several weeks, we will be releasing the Brunello di Montalcino RISERVA 2006 from Luigi Anania’s estate “La Torre”. Luigi produces a small amount of Riserva from time-to-time depending on the quality of a particular vintage. Even then, he severely restricts the amount of Riserva that he makes so that he does not affect in
Yesterday, March 19, we arrived in Milan and headed directly to the northeastern sector of Piemonte to prospect for growers in the appellations of Lessona, Ghemme and Gattinara. In the small town of Lessona, which is the smallest in size of the subject appellations, we met with Massimo Clerico. He is the third “largest” producer
We are in the midst of a special moment, a quiet dinner at home on the evening before we leave to prospect in the Piedmont and Calabria. The atmosphere is cool, calm and crystalline – listening to Billy Holliday sing and drinking the L’Etoile Cuvee Speciale 2006 from Nicole Deriaux’s Domaine de Montbourgeau, a brief
The first shipment of the wines of the 2006 vintage from Paolo Bea arrived last week. Yes, five plus years after the harvest the wines have been released. Contrary to the generally high quality wines produced in 2006 from the neighboring zone of Tuscany, the ’06 vintage in Umbria was problematic with grapes struggling to
On Feb 22 we celebrated Kerry’s birthday with a group of old friends and a series of old wines – the occasion being a wonderful excuse to dig into the cellar. In this era, when everyone is so eager to drink up wines immediately upon release, enjoying wines of a certain age is a reminder
It was rewarding to discover the favorable comments in Eric Asimov’s reflections on Gigondas in this week’s NY Times “Dining” section. The notes about our Domaine du Gour de Chaulé highlight our taste profile, that is our preference for wines of balance, grace and complexity over the mere show of force that often is the
Tonight (1 Feb 2012) we are drinking a bottle of Domaine du Jaugaret 2007, a wine from a weak vintage (or so it is said). Satisfying – a true wine of Saint Julien, as clear an expression of this particular terroir as exists in today’s world of Bordeaux. Yet, this splendid wine may be the
I walked into the kitchen tonight after a session working on revisions to our new website to find a just-opened wine in a glass waiting for my attention. The bottle was hidden – a test for my aging palate, I suppose. One taste and an immediate expression of “Wow”! It was an immense wine, thick
Proved to myself once again tonight that this is my favorite red from the Prudhon family. It has the most “grip” and those tannins, rustic for sure, are compelling and in perfect balance. The vintage 2007 lends a lot of grace to this wine and makes the argument for elevating this vintage in ranking amongst
The 2004 vintage in Burgundy has revealed, over time, a series of wines that are compelling for rendering the purity and truth of the region. Cornu’s top wines are beautiful examples. Tonight (Dec 25) we drank the Aloxe 1er Cru “Moutottes” from the ’04 vintage. I expected a lovely wine because the Moutottes always has
It has been awhile since we drank a Bourgueil from James Petit so tonight’s experience was delightful for a number of reasons. First, the ’09 “Galluches” is showing brilliantly. Our previous encounters with this wine revealed a wine that was reticent, still youthful and timid. Now, the wine is in bloom. It has a brilliant
Opened our first bottle of the just-released 2008 Barbaresco “Normale” from De Forville. A stark contrast to the ’07 which was generous, open-knit, seductive and almost sweet. The ’08, in my opinion, is a more “important” wine with a discipline to its structure that is only present in the greatest of wines. This Barbaresco is
Unfortunately, in this risk-averse era in which we live, they just don’t make wine like this anymore. The ’89 Crozes Hermitage from Michel Ferraton is outrageously great today, 22 years after it was born from this minor appellation. Losing Ferraton from our portfolio (a sad story) is probably the greatest loss of our career from
So, over the past several evenings, we have drunk Haut Segottes ’06 and Jaugaret ’04, an experience that stimulates a few thoughts about the two wines specifically and our Bordeaux selection in general. First, it becomes obvious after consuming these two wines that our work in Bordeaux is every bit as profound and important as
Pierreclos: Margots @ 60 ans d’age; Chateau @ 20 ans – age moyenne: 40 ans. Macon Milly-La Martine 2010 – 9 mois en fut, mis en blle Sept ’11 (vieux fut de 5 ans) – assez vif, plus elegant que Pierreclos, dernieres vignes de vendanger, assez minerale, tres discret, “la Montagne” 18 ares, 30 hl-ha,
Passed a lovely moment with Jean-Francois Fillastre at Domaine Jaugaret this morning. He was in good spirits despite the fact that both his ’08 and ’09 have been rejected by the tasting panel that gives the OK to have the appellation Saint Jullien for the wine. The wine was putatively rejected due to an excess
So, we drank a bottle of Vosne 1er Cru “Les Chaumes” 2006 tonight from our modest, but nevertheless brilliant, Jerome Chezeaux. There are others in our Burgundy portfolio that are more famous but none who are producing more consistently outstanding wine in a style that is simple yet strikingly classic. The “Chaumes” ’06 is still
A week spent in the Cote d’Or, the Jura and Alsace …. There is plenty of good news to share about the wine scene in Burgundy. We are about to tackle three very strong vintages in Burgundy: ’08, ’09 and ’10. The first and last are marked by vibrant, fresh, pure wines with clear expression
The wine of the afternoon! NIR
Here we are at the Lignier’s table with Hubert and Francoise and Laurent and a few other family members having a simple dinner accompanied by: Chambolle Les Baudes 2002, Charmes Chambertin 2000 and Clos de la Roche 1988. Wish you were all here! NIR
I just left the cellars of Domaine Forey having tasted through the 2010 and 2009 vintages with Regis Forey. For years I have been begging Regis to take his foot from the lever and not be afraid to show the tender side of Burgundy. Regis is a good friend and sensitive vigneron who appreciates our
Tasted through 3 vintages of Mercurey today with Agnes de Launay: ’10, ’09, 08 … all four cuvees: 1er Cru (Les Montaigus, Les Byots), Les Saumonts, Les Veleys, Clos du Chateau de Montaigu. Agnes is finding her form. There is a beautiful purity to her wines now and they are less “timid”. Of course, the
So, a new era begins! After 30 consecutive vintages working with Louis Carillon and his two sons, the domaine has been divided between Jacques and Francois. The 2010 vintage will be the first for us working with Jacques solely (and exclusively for the USA). Today, Jacques and I tasted through the entire range** of his
While drinking an ’06 Aloxe “Moutottes” from Cornu last night, I concluded that this vintage offers a large palette of styles, more so perhaps than any recent vintage. The wines of the Cote de Nuits appear to have achieved greater ripeness than those of the Cote de Beaune but wines from both appellations remain somewhat
Once again we drank a bottle of the Nebbiolo d’Alba “San Rocco” 2009 from De Forville. I have been tracking the development of this wine since I was convinced from the outset of its exceptional quality and value. It’s tannins are beginning to relax which reveals the excellent balance of this wine and the classic
having recently tasted through the recently arrived ’08s from Levet, Gilles and Lionnet, i can happily report that this difficult vintage is showing surprisingly well right now. yes, the wines are not chunky and thick but they have excellent purity of both nose and flavor. Further, the lack of ultimate concentration is actually a welcome