Over the past decade, Bordeaux has seen some of the most extreme ups and downs in the history of wine. Coming off a high note in 2000, when wines received excellent scores and were the most expensive in Bordeaux’s history, critics had high hopes for Bordeaux in the new millennium. However, their hopes were dashed…
For decades, wine negociants have had a nasty reputation in the wine world, yet this reputation is undeserved. Jancis Robinson explains, “The old cliché that merchants, negociants in French, are all baddies and growers are all goodies is now well and truly out of date.” Negociants are merchants who buy grapes, juice, or finished wine from…
With millions of online users posting content from all over the world, you might worry that your own lone voice doesn’t matter. However, studies have shown that even a handful of wine bloggers can have a meaningful impact on the wine market. A few years ago, South African winery Stormhoek wanted to step up its…
Famous wine writer Lettie Teague has seen some incredible wine cellars in her lifetime, some of which featured ornate chandeliers, expensive paintings, and detailed marble statues. She says, “Wine in these cellars isn’t so much consumed as it is revered. I don’t have one of those cellars. In fact, I don’t really have a cellar…
Jason Preston, AAA, who is a Certified Member of the Appraisers Association of America and who regularly appears as an appraiser on PBS’ Antiques Roadshow, has handled plenty of wine inheritance cases in his career. One of the most memorable, he says, was when he was called in to appraise a wine collection in Bel-Air.…
A wine collector who lived close to the New York City subway system was terrified for the safety of her wines; whenever the trains would roll by, she could see her bottles rattling in their holders. Everything else about her cellar was perfect, down to the temperature and humidity, but she wasn’t sure how well…
We’ve written about the importance of wine education on this blog before, including a list of the best classes you can take to become a serious collector, but you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on formal classes to learn everything you need to know about wine. The best wine education books supplement your…
Collectors trade mailing list horror stories like baseball cards. A Don Rockwell forum member once signed up for the Cayuse mailing list in 2009, and by 2014, he still hadn’t moved off of the waitlist. When he asked the winery when he could expect to become a mailing list member, he was informed that he…
When wine educator Mary Gorman-McAdams decided to clean out her wine supplies a few years ago, she was horrified by what she found lurking in her apartment: entire stacks of rose, Prosecco and cheap Merlot gathering dust behind her newer bottles. She says, “I had some initial hope for the Cotes du Rhone, but alas,…
Rhone wine expert John Livingstone-Learmonth isn’t easy to impress, yet when he talks about Jamet, he gushes, “A lot of people would give their right arm to possess even a fraction of this family’s vineyards.” For decades now, Jamet has produced the Rhone wines with greater complexity and depth of flavor than many other estates…
Quality auction houses take every precaution to stop wine fraud, but sometimes, their efforts aren’t enough. Last year, a popular auction house was accused of trying to sell counterfeit wine to customers, and was stopped when a sharp-eyed expert caught the attempted fraud. Years ago, the auction house had successfully sold an authentic bottle of…
Would you spend $40,000 on a single wine tour? What if the winery offered you the chance to craft your own blend, sending you home with customized, engraved bottles? Chateau Duval-Leroy is offering just such a package for its VIP customers, and it’s just one of dozens of ultra-lavish tours being offered this year. VIP…
