In the 1930s and 1940s, French winemaking families could easily pay off even the steepest wine inheritance tax within one harvest season. Today, paying off inheritance taxes on vineyards can take 10 years or more on family-run estates. Domaine Armand Rousseau’s Eric Rousseau explains, “It’s even more crippling for domaines that have difficulty selling their…
One of my best friends is a bold red wine fanatic; when I say he loves a rich Cabernet Sauvignon, I mean he will turn his nose up at any bottle of white wine or even Pinot Noir. His only love is Cabernet. But there’s a reason for his niche taste: he’s allergic to wine…
When regions like Oregon and California are crippled with drought, it seems counterintuitive to withhold water from vines. Yet more winemakers in these regions are turning to dry farming practices as a way to make better tasting wine; so far, the change is working. Dry farming has been around for centuries, long before humans…
Can vegans drink wine? For more than 50 percent of all wine vintages, the answer is no. Most of today’s wines are still made using more than simply fermented grape juice; techniques for fining wine require the use of egg whites or animal organ linings to sift out sediment. Although relatively few wines cater to vegan…
Sweet wine sales are on a steep and steady decline around the world as more wine drinkers prefer the taste of dry white wines. Where does this leave traditional white wine regions such as Alsace and Sauternes? Terroirs that grow some of the finest white wine varietals in the world are being forced to either…
A recent study conducted in New Zealand could explain the source of New Zealand and Napa Valley’s one-of-a-kind terroir flavors.1 Terroir characteristics in wine have little to do with minerals in the soil, and everything to do with the yeast strain S. cerevisiae, according to this study. Certain strains of this yeast, which seem…
In the wine industry, many still scoff at the idea of Alsace red wine; they imagine the delicate flavors of Alsace Pinot Noir, served at cool temperatures much like a Rose, believing that Alsace’s version lacks the depth and intensity of classic Pinot Noir. Today, Pinot Noir in the region has become denser and…
Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “I think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wines as a tax on luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens.” At the time this quote was written, Jefferson was in an intense fight against British taxation in the United…
Since the introduction of cement vats in the 19th century, wine critics have fiercely debated whether wine is best aged in cement or wood. Since cement does not appear to affect a wine’s flavor, many experts believe that a wine’s natural, terroir-based qualities can only be expressed through cement aging. However, proponents of oak barreling…
Have you ever wondered how Chardonnay grapes grow across a variety of terroirs? Whether in Chablis or the south of France, Chardonnay can be grown to perfection despite the drastic difference in climate. The answer lies with clones; France is home to 34 distinct subspecies of Chardonnay grapes that are specifically bred for the climates…
In my experience tasting Chablis wines, one tasting note consistently shines through: flint. The limestone-rich soil in this terroir is sprinkled with fossilized oyster shells that allegedly add minerality to its flavors. While scientists have found that mineral flavors certainly exist in wines, they are still unsure why this minerality is present. In multiple studies,…
Over the past 10 years, more and more wine producers are using skin-contact pigeage on white wines, a practice that for centuries was viewed as a flaw in white varietals. Every year, dozens of guests gather barefoot at Peju Province, tucked away in the dry hills of Napa Valley. There, they sink their freshly-cleaned feet…