May
5
Is Pinot Noir the Most Interesting Grape in the World?
This question may seem audacious, but it deserves serious consideration. The criteria for interest are (1) diversity of flavour, texture, and structural profiles; (2) that diversity derives from both site
Apr
8
Cote de Beaune Blanc: The Last Four Years, the Next Four Years
To confound the wine world, the 2016 vintage’s April frosts reduced yields about 10-fold in the Cote de Beaune, accelerating an already meteoric price increase beginning with the 2014 vintage.
Mar
31
Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard 2014
I’ve been reading Raj Parr and Jordan Mackay’s Sommelier’s Atlas of Taste, which is a tome deserving of its own post. One of their great conceits is the idea of
Mar
11
Cornas
Stereotypical Cornas is “burly” and tannic. Nonsense. The greatest producers in Cornas produce wines of lithe complexity and deeply focused intellectualism. I now understand why so few appreciate these wines.
Mar
5
Larmandier-Bernier Terre de Vertus 2007
I am old enough to have witnessed the shift from house champagnes to grower champagnes in North America’s major wine markets. Today, grower champagne has exploded, particularly among the Millennial
Jan
12
Champagne Pierre Gerbais Grains de Celles n/v
Once you leave Canada to a real wine market, there seems an endless font of grower champagne. My latest discovery came courtesy of Le Caviste in Seattle: Pierre Gerbais’s Grains
Dec
23
Two Top Wines for the Holidays
Holidays demand much of us. I like to see them as an opportunity to treat yourself and those who deserve it in between the rest. When those moments do arrive,
Nov
22
Old and Good: Barolo, Burgundy and … Champagne
Sometimes there are those nights where everything is on point. Accompanied by wonderfully executed food at Cinara, each of the following was in peak form: Bernard Moreau Chassagne-Montrachet 2014 Diebolt-Vallois
Oct
21
1978 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande … and Other Wine
40 year old wine is always a journey, sometimes into dissapointment, always into variability, and occassionally into greatness. While this 1978 Pichon-Lalande was not at the apex of aged Bordeaux,
Sep
30
Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin Le Banc 2016
Pierre-Yves founded his domaine with family vineyards in 2006, after having spent about a decade as winemaker at his family’s domaine “Marc Colin”. In the mere decade since founding his