Last spring, a group of French winemakers hijacked five tankers carrying gallons of cheap Spanish wine. They forced the tankers to the side of the road, turned on the their taps one by one, and dumped tens of thousands of liters of generic red wine into the streets. The hijackers destroyed the wine because they…
One of my acquaintances invests in white Burgundy every year, even in times of hardship for the region. I recently asked what he thought of Burgundy’s low 2016 yields, and he said, “I have a feeling my favorites will be hard to find…I’m thinking about buying more Loire instead.” He isn’t alone; Loire Valley is…
MENTIONED IN THIS POST: Chateau Petrus Chateau Lafleur Chateau l’Eglise Clinet The words on nearly every collector’s lips this year are “2016 Bordeaux.” I haven’t seen collectors get this excited over a new Bordeaux vintage since the iconic 2009. During the past five years, many of my closest wine loving friends have complained that Bordeaux…
The last time I was in France, I found some surprisingly delicious 2012 Bordeaux in a wine shop on the outskirts of Paris. This was surprising because I’ve listened to collectors and wine critics alike complain about the subpar quality of 2012 Bordeaux, especially the sweet white wines. Uneven flowering followed by mildew made the…
Two years ago, at a wine bar’s tasting event, I sat next to a man who described himself as “a proud California Cabernet nutter,” and who drank New World wines almost exclusively. We tasted an Oregon Pinot Noir that he seemed to enjoy, but when the host brought out a bottle of Bordeaux, the man…
Having gone through a devastating spring frost and continued problems with premox, Burgundy needed some good news for a change, and it looks like it got it. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Burgundy’s low grape yields might actually produce one of the most legendary wines of this decade, which is excellent news for…
Early in my career, if you told me that I’d one day be buying up Argentinian Malbec by the case full, I’d have assumed you’d gone mad. Many of the Malbecs I’ve tried have managed to be both bold and bland all at once, with jammy fruit and no complexity. However, recent years have changed…
When my ancestors moved from Italy to the United States decades ago, they did so in turmoil: phylloxera had taken over their vineyards and destroyed the grapevines they worked so hard to cultivate. They were forced to abandon their vines and make a new life in the United States as orchardists. Unfortunately, the small village…
Barolo has long been one of my favorite wine styles of all time, so you can imagine my disappointment when I tried more than a few mediocre 2012 bottles this year. It’s not that these wines are awful, they simply don’t move me like Barolo usually does. Renowned Piedmont critic Gregory dal Piaz had the…
This summer, Sancerre winemaker Jean-Jacques Auchere awoke one morning to find that almost 6,000 of his youngest IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) Sauvignon Blanc vines had been ripped out of the earth at his estate, The Cabarette. Auchere told reporters that the ransacking, believed to be the work of vandals, has cost him at least $13,000…
One common problem I see with many wine collections today is lack of diversity. It’s great to specialize in the wines you love, but a diverse cellar is fun to drink from, as well as being a good investment. I know a wine collector who only invested in Cabernet Sauvignon or red blends made primarily…
Deciding on a vintage’s quality before all of the grapes have been plucked from the vines can be a gamble. Years ago, when I first heard reports about Bordeaux’s 2012 grapes, I was ready to write the vintage off entirely; cold, wet spring weather resulted in uneven flowering, and by July, a massive heat wave…