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The "Big Character" of Rasteau's Big French Wines
Well… I’m in the unenviable position of having to date myself. Embarrassingly (not because of my age, about which I mostly don’t care, but because of my obvious lack of knowledge), I knew little about the Rasteau appellation prior to visiting it on a recent Rhône media jaunt, aside from the fact that it was the home of some great Vin doux naturel sweet wines (which were permitted under the Rasteau AOC since the 1940s). Ok, more like I knew nothing about the appellation outside of its VdN wines.
Ancient Tradition Meets Ultra-Modern Styling in Portugal's Herdade do Rocim
According to general manager and oenologist Pedro Ribeiro, Herdade do Rocim has “probably the most expensive amphorae in the world.”. Rocim sent clay from their ancient vats – a staple of aging wine in Alentejo for centuries – to a university in Montpelier for analysis, in order to create newer amphorae that had the same porosity as French oak barrels. these are the things you can afford to do, I suppose, when you are part of three estates (the others being in Lisbon and the Douro, with another joint venture in Vinho Verde) and produce upwards of one million bottles of wine per annum.
Dream Team: The Husband and Wife Partnership Behind Three of Bordeaux's Most Promising Chateau
Thibaut Decoster and wife Magali (a Bordeaux native) knew basically nothing about farming and winemaking. No prior experience working the land. No family in the industry. So naturally they now own four wineries across twenty-eight hectares of vineyards in Bordeaux.
Friendly Capybaras, and Friendlier Wines: Visiting Uruguay's Bouza Winery
Bouza Winery is small even by Uruguay’s petite wine production standards. 25 hectares of vineyards spread out between two plantings, in the Melilla and Las Violetas regions near Montevideo, yielding about 120 thousand bottles a year. But you wouldn’t know it tasting their wines, which are bold, modernly stylized (okay, and in a few cases too modernly stylized on the aggressive oak treatment), and bigger than some of California’s heftiest reds.
Touring Tuscany's Bolgheri - Virtually! - with Tenuta Sette Cieli
On the border of Bolgheri, within sight of the legendary Sassicaia and equally-legendary Ornellaia, nestled in Tuscany’s gorgeous and golden-lit rolling hills, protected by surrounding forests, sits the former horse ranch and now premium wine producerTenuta Sette Cieli.
Tracing the Evolution of Modern Carménère Wine with Chile's Terra Noble
The evolutionary winemaking journey of what we might call modern Carménère red wines from Chile has taken a course that seems somewhat circuitous in retrospect. But while that journey might have been meandering, it ultimately has ended up in a place that's excellent for wine lovers. And it looks something like this, form the perspective of Chilean wine producers:
Bringing Wine Country Chic to Italy's Emilia-Romagna with Azienda Vitivinicola Condé
Chiara Condello grew up “ten minutes away” from Predappio’s Azienda Vitivinicola Condé, a place so picturesque – even by exceptionally picturesque Romagna standards – that it houses its own resort, which in turn houses its own restaurant in an area that’s nearly synonymous with Italian cuisine.
For Vallejo's Earl Stevens (Rapper E-40), Producing Wine Was Inevitable
American rapper E-40, a.k.a. Earl Stevens, is a living quote machine. I could hardly keep up with his quips during a peripatetic, entertainingly hilarious, and all-around eye-opening Zoom tasting of a handful of samples from his Earl Stevens Selections lineup.
Taking Prosecco Wine to New Figurative and Literal Heights with Conegliano Valdobbiadene
Conegliano Valdobbiadene harvestConegliano Valdobbiadene Consorzio. In my experience, most people don’t know anything about Prosecco, despite the fact that we drink metric tons of it (pre-Covid 2019 saw some of the best sales numbers ever for the stuff).
Wine Like Handmade Pasta: Tasting with Sensi's Massimo Sensi
And in that little offhand quip, Massimo Sensi – part of the 4th generation behind Sensi wines, in operation since 1895 – pretty much summed up everything you need to know about his family’s perennially crowd-pleasing wine operation.
The Inside Scoop on Bruno Paillard Champagne: Tasting with Alice Paillard
I think that we can forgive Alice Paillard, of Bruno Paillard Champagne, for being opinionated. As the daughter of the eponymously named Bruno Paillard’s founder, she’s basically had a lifetime of working with someone who himself is, well, opinionated about Champagne. According to Alice (with whom I tasted through a few Bruno Paillard Champagne - let’s call them BPC from here on out - samples as part of a virtual media event), wine with her father “was never banal. It was always an adventure, with mystery, with beauty. I feel very lucky in the fact that I had plenty of time [to transition with him into a leading role within the family business]”. Her father still works closely with her on BPC’s assemblage; because “it would be stupid not to do it together.”
"Wild West" Winemaking at Mendocino's Saracina
Winemaker Alex MacGregor has been with Mendocino’s Saracina since it started up, back when Dave Ramey was consulting with them. And to hear him tell it (from a media samples live Zoom tasting I attended with him and current Saracina owner Mark Taub), he’s not planning on leaving their 250 acre ranch anytime soon.
Sonoma County Chardonnay Tour with Dutcher Crossing
Recently, I had the kind of online wine sample tasting experience that would make my girlfriend cringe – only because she happens to dislike 99% of the Chardonnay wines that I put in front of her (I know… I know… I’m working on it, people!). For those of us who never gave up on California’s most-planted grape variety, Dutcher Crossing Winery offered up a curated run-through of a handful of their single-vineyard Sonoma Chardonnay releases, along with winemaker Nick Briggs, as well as Charlie Chenoweth, Pam Bacigalupi, and Dan Rotlisberger (each representing some of the vineyards that source those selections).
In the Tasting Room with Napa Valley's Kapcsandy
“Our competition isn’t Napa Valley; it’s Bordeaux.”. That’s how Lou Kapcsandy sums up the goal of his 3,000 (ish) case production winery, a building that nestles up to about 15 acres of vineyard land that formerly went into Beringer’s `75 Private Reserve (“we purchased it in 2000 without them knowing anything about it,” he told me), and which might best be described as ‘polished-industrial.’
No Reservations: Tasting Bodegas Riojanas Monte Real Gran Reserva 1964 in New York City
Despite the simple title, I did, in fact, have serious reservations about the subject of today’s featured juice. After all, technically I tasted it while being “on the clock” for a paying gig with Wines of Rioja (now ended), which had me wondering just how impartial of a judgment I could make about it.
Make Wine Like a Girl: Women Run the Show at Sonoma's Benzinger & Imagery
Generally, I’m loath to talk about “women winemakers,” because I find the term anachronistic at best, and simply rude and insensitive at worst. I mean, who cares what gender is behind a well-made wine these days? There are, for sure, fantastically delicate, “feminine” wines being made by men, women, and any identification in between; and exactly the same could be said about burly, “masculine” wines. In the opinion of this critic, gender just doesn’t mean much when it comes to discussing and evaluating what’s ultimately in the bottle.Having said that, the wine business is among humanity’s more ancient endeavors, usually meaning that it doesn’t exactly turn on a dime when it comes to evolving with the times and matching societal progress in general.
Rediscovering an Unexpected Riesling in New York's Finger Lakes
It took a blind tasting held in New York’s Finger Lakes region to remind that Riesling totally rocks. And while Riesling from the Finger Lakes is amazing, in this case we;re actually talking about the country that inspired it: Riesling from the Mosel, in Germany.
1WineDude
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a.k.a. Joe Roberts. Dad, wine-writer-guy, wine critic, wine competition judge, author, bassist, free-thinker, & occasional hiney-shaker. Opening up highly-pressurized cans of whoop-a** on the wine industry since 2007. Joe is a Certified Specialist of Wine, and the author of Wine Taster’s Guide: Drink and Learn with 30 Wine Tastings.
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