Featured Read
Nerve and Steel: Tasting Kumeu River
Chardonnay is arguably the greatest white grape. Because of its flexibility in the cellar, and its ability to grow well in many regions around the world, Chardonnay also offers perhaps the greatest diversity of any single white grape. The common understanding is that Chardonnay is a cellar grape whereas a grape like Riesling is a grape of terroir. There is truth to this. However, in my experience the very best expressions of Chardonnay from around the world have a distinct edge and incomparability that complexifies the notion that Chardonnay is a cellar grape. Chardonnay in the New World The New World has had a difficult relationship with Chardonnay. Confronting the grape with high … [Read More...]
Latest Sips
Oltretorrente Colli Tortonesi Timarosso 2011
Piedmont, famous for its red wines, in fact has a number of exceptional white varieties well worth exploring. The most famous is perhaps Arneis, but this wine proves that the lesser known Timarosso is also capable of excellent results. The producer Oltretorrente grows this wine in the Colli Tortonesi DOC, which is in the far … [Read More...]
Nichol Vineyard Syrah 2010
No complex note today, just good wine. I tasted the 2010 Nichol Syrah from barrel a couple years ago. It’s blossomed. In fact, this is hands down the best red wine I’ve ever had from British Columbia. It is also the most varietally correct Syrah I’ve had from B.C. and it has a distinct sense of place - it doesn’t taste … [Read More...]
Brown Estate Arrested Zinfandel 2006
Arrest. This word has intense meaning in our language. The easy first thought is “to deprive of freedom”. Nothing is more loaded. But, arrest also means to stop - the act of stopping or the condition of being stopped. Zinfandel is often described as America’s grape. It is true that California has produced the … [Read More...]
