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2011 was one of the Château d'Yquem best vintages

What Are Château d’Yquem’s Best Vintages?

Bordeaux, France, Producers and Wineries, SauternesBy Vinfolio Staff February 22, 2019

What makes a great Château d’Yquem vintage? All of these wines are excellent–the château doesn’t release a vintage if the grapes aren’t satisfactory–and they’re all designed to age for decades, so there aren’t many vintages that fall short. Still, different vintages have different strengths. You’ll find vintages that taste mature just 35 years after release and others that still taste exceptionally young at age 50. Some collectors prefer Château d’Yquem bottles that develop mature flavors fairly early whereas others prefer wines that age more slowly. This guide will help you find the best Château d’Yquem vintages based on your personal preferences and goals.

Buying wine by the case can be a wise investment

The Complete Guide to Buying Wine by the Case

Buying Wine, Collecting, InvestingBy Vinfolio Staff February 15, 2019

Buying wine by the case is a great way to stock up on wine for a party, lay down birth year wine, or see how a top-rated vintage evolves over time. However, buying wine by the case isn’t always a simple process. For starters, not all retailers sell wine by the case. Even if you find a retailer that sells full or half cases of wine, it can sometimes be difficult to determine whether you’re getting a good deal. This guide will walk you through the buying process to help you decide which cases are worth investing in and how to care for the cases you buy.

The best vintage year of Opus One is subjective.

What Is the Best Vintage Year for Opus One?

California, Investing, Producers and WineriesBy Vinfolio Staff February 14, 2019

Designating one year as the best vintage year for Opus One is a difficult and subjective task; wines from two different years may both be fantastic in completely different ways. Some vintages are fruit-driven and intense in flavor, while others are delicate and bright. To pick the best vintages for your own collection, you’ll want to consider which of these two styles you prefer as well as whether you plan on reselling your bottles on the secondary market in the future. Our guide to the best Opus One vintages will help you narrow down your choices and build a rewarding collection of these iconic wines.

A Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche vintage vertical

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche: The Best Vintages

Burgundy, Collecting, France, Investing, Producers and WineriesBy Vinfolio Staff February 8, 2019

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche is one of the greatest wine labels in the world. Even the lowest-rated vintages from this estate are still exceptionally high in quality, which means it’s nearly impossible to invest in a bad bottle of La Tâche. However, as with any label, some vintages are more valuable and impressive than others. Seeking out the very best wines from this producer ensures you’ll get the highest return on your investment and will get to enjoy only the finest wines the estate made.

Meursault wine is a unique white Burgundy

The Ultimate Guide to Meursault Wine

Burgundy, Buying Wine, France, Investing, Wine RegionsBy Vinfolio Staff February 1, 2019

The reason so many wine enthusiasts adore Meursault wine is that it is opulent yet approachable. These wines taste luxe and silky even in their youth, making them some of the easiest wines in the world to collect. You don’t have to worry about opening your Meursault too early, as even the youngest wines have spectacular balance and layers of flavor. Whether you’re starting a Meursault collection for the first time or you want to explore a few lesser-known producers or styles from this area, this guide will help you discover all that this region has to offer.

The best Valentine's Day wine ideas should reflect your personality as a couple.

Valentine’s Day Wine Ideas for Every Type of Celebration

Buying Wine, Enjoying Wine, HolidayBy Vinfolio Staff January 31, 2019

My idea of the perfect Valentine’s Day wine is generally either vintage Champagne or aged red Burgundy. However, last year, we decided to try something a little different. We chose a bottle of 1961 Château Prieuré du Monastir Del Camp Rivesaltes–a truly special wine that had fascinating flavors of fresh citrus and dried fruit. Serving decades-old Grenache was an unexpectedly great Valentine’s Day wine idea because it made the evening much more memorable. My spouse and I have shared dozens of bottles of Champagne together, but we’ve only had one bottle of 1961 Grenache from the Languedoc.

One of the best Grenache food pairings is grilled vegetables.

Your Guide to Grenache Food Pairings

Enjoying Wine, Serving, VarietalsBy Vinfolio Staff January 25, 2019

This summer, I went to a wedding and was served the most delicious homemade Indian food I’ve ever tasted. I filled my plate with buttery chicken makhani, smoky tandoori, and a huge variety of spicy curries. The bride and groom provided two different alcoholic beverages to pair with the food: lager beer and Grenache. I’ll admit that when I saw Grenache on the menu, I was a little skeptical. I wasn’t sure how the wine’s flavors would interact with all of the complex spices in the meal. To my surprise, however, the Grenache blend the couple chose perfectly complemented the food. The fruitiness of the Grenache played well with the creamier dishes on the table, while the spicy notes in the wine enhanced the food’s smoky paprika and cardamom flavors. Grenache and Indian food is now one of my favorite pairings.

Biodynamic winemaking is one fine wine market trend

2019’s Fine Wine Market Trends: What You Need to Know

Buying Wine, Collecting, Investing, News, Wine MarketsBy Vinfolio Staff January 18, 2019

What’s in store for the fine wine market this year? We’ve taken a look at the data and found a number of emerging trends that might impact your buying and selling decisions this year. Many of these trends have been gaining ground for a while, but this year they may have particular impact on the market.

Masseto makes some of the Super Tuscan best vintages

Super Tuscans: The Best Vintages for Your Collection

Buying Wine, Collecting, Italy, Wine RegionsBy Vinfolio Staff January 17, 2019

What I love most about Super Tuscans is how diverse these wines are. Some are almost purple in color, with bold, fruit-forward flavors, while others are bright red, finessed, and racy. No matter what type of wine you prefer to drink, there’s a Super Tuscan out there that is perfect for you. However, this diversity also makes these wines more difficult to shop for based on vintage alone. When you drink a red Bordeaux blend or a white Burgundy, you usually know exactly what to expect before you uncork the bottle, based on what critics have said about the vintage. But with Super Tuscans, finding the best vintages isn’t always so clear-cut. The best vintage for a bold Syrah blend, for example, might differ from that for a Sangiovese blend. To find the highest-quality Super Tuscan vintages, you need to take into consideration the weather conditions and how they affected the primary grape varieties in the blend.

A port and chocolate pairing brings out the best in each.

How to Find the Perfect Port and Chocolate Pairing

Enjoying Wine, Fortified Wine, Portugal, ServingBy Vinfolio Staff January 11, 2019

One of my friend’s favorite holiday traditions is to sit next to the fireplace with a bottle of vintage Graham’s at her side. She sips the wine slowly while nibbling on dark chocolate truffles or chocolate-covered almonds. For her, port and chocolate go hand-in-hand. Even though she’s served port with other desserts before, she always goes back to that same classic port and chocolate pairing.

How to Give Wine as a Hostess Gift

Gifts, Holiday, PartiesBy Vinfolio Staff January 4, 2019

For Christmas one year, my mom invited her childhood friend to stay over for a few days. As a gesture of gratitude, my mom’s friend brought her the most thoughtful gift: a beautiful wine basket filled with my mom’s favorite Champagnes, including bottles of Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame and Perrier-Jouët. Not only was the gift attractively packaged in a beautiful wicker basket, but the wine itself was of spectacular quality. Although my mom appreciates fine wine, she rarely buys it for herself, so the gift allowed her to enjoy the bottles she loves for the first time in years.

Sauternes, Champagne, and port all make great Christmas wine.

The Ultimate Guide to Christmas Wine

Buying Wine, Enjoying Wine, Holiday, PartiesBy Vinfolio Staff December 21, 2018

Whenever I see a magnum from one of my favorite producers, I almost always buy it without a second thought. That’s because I host a Christmas dinner party with my extended family every year, and we go through around a dozen standard-size bottles over the course of the night. Hosting a party like this is a serious challenge–not only do you need to make sure there’s enough wine to go around, but you also have to choose those wines carefully so that they appeal to everyone’s diverse tastes. It took my family and me a number of years to refine our Christmas wine list, but we have finally come up with the perfect combination of wines that make everyone in the family happy.