Sonoe has been working with the grapes from the Linda Vista Vineyard since 2018 vintage. Located on the eastern, cooler side of the Oak Knoll District, this vineyard has been organically farmed (CCOF Certified Organic) by Steve Matthiasson since...
The 2020 Aldo Conterno Barolos are an impressive group- it was a vintage that truly favored Monforte d’Alba in general and Bussia specifically, and these will be particularly long-lived wines while being quite approachable while still young. It’s an...
The 2020 Aldo Conterno Barolos are an impressive group- it was a vintage that truly favored Monforte d’Alba in general and Bussia specifically, and these will be particularly long-lived wines while being quite approachable while still young. It’s an...
Location, location, location, they say. How can this property, sitting as it does at the southern border of Chateau Lynch-Bages and contiguous to six other Classified Growth Pauillacs including Chateau Latour remain under everyone’s radar? One reason may...
Wine Country: Italy
Wine Subregion: Piemonte
Wine Sub-subregion: Barolo
Wine Varietal: Barolo DOCG
Damilano is one of the oldest wineries in Barolo. The family business dates back to 1890 when Giuseppe Borgogno started cultivating and producing wine...
MAGNUMS PRIMA Notes: Bramé, in Piemontese dialect means ‘a desire or craving for something,’ and that’s exactly what will happen to you when you taste this beautifully crafted, savory, food-friendly Barbera from the Roero region...
Like so many regions of Italy, the island of Sardegna is home to a host of indigenous grape varieties, many of which are not grown anywhere else in the world. Out of a list of 100 or so grape types, only a few are likely to show up on the shelves of your...
Since the mid 1990s, the domaine has followed the principles of lutte raisonnée (reasoned fight) in its farming practices, plowing rather than spraying herbicides, forgoing the use of chemical fertilizers, and being conscientious in its...
Clos Saint Jacques’s 4.2 acres were planted in 1952 in a postage stamp of a vineyard that faces due east on a steep slope (this enclosed vineyard should not be confused with Rully’s larger Les Saint Jacques vineyard to the south). The wine is...
Winery Notes: To the eye: Pale yellow color, bright and clear On the nose: Complex yellow and floral fruits. Palate: Fruit with white flesh, round and full. This wine can be enjoyed as an aperitif as well as at the table with foie gras, fish,...
Wine Spectator just made it their #7 Wine of the Year, too.
Another ultra-important 2020 southern Rhone release has just arrived, Daniel Brunier’s monolithic Vieux Telegraph Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge. The...
No overview of French wine can ignore the Loire Valley because of its sheer size and the staggering numbers of appellations found along its meandering river banks. Another one of my pipe dreams is to explore the entire Loire River Valley, from Muscadet...
Historically one never turned to the Macon for rich, character-filled white Burgundies. They looked further up the Cotes to find them. But a new generation of vintner and a little help from a changing climate has turned appellations like...
James Suckling: Deep and serious with black olives, blackberries, blueberries, tobacco leaf, sweet red capsicum, ash, dried meat and a hint of black chocolate. This is a more direct, full-bodied Don Melchor, filled with solid blackberries and wrapped by...
Importer's Notes: The estate cultivates some 20 different, small vineyard plots in and around the town of Bois d’Oignt, in sections called ‘Les Grandes Coasses’ and ‘La Carrière,’ at the southern tip of the...
Importer's Notes: The Berger liter of Zweigelt is an unbelievable value red wine. Made in the same style as the Grüner Liter, but aged for an additional year. Juicy and bright, Berger’s Zweigelt is loaded with crunchy red fruit, tart cherry, and...
Another set of absolutely stellar Barolos from this intriguing vintage, it cannot be denied that Chiara Boschis is on an incredible roll! Chiara’s brother Giorgio and niece Beatrice are now in control of the cellar while Chiara is free to be in her most...
One of my favorite spots in all of Italy, Carso, or Karst, as it’s called on the other side of the Slovenian border a bare kilometer away, is a world onto itself. The easternmost part of Friuli, it’s not exactly Italy, but not Slovenia either. Not only...
Wine Country: Italy Wine Subregion: Piemonte Wine Sub-subregion: Barolo Wine Varietal: Barolo DOCG Silvia Altare is truly hitting her stride. Now firmly and confidently in control of one of the most seminal properties in all of Barolo, her 2020s...
The last time I visited the Cigliutis, I was with my wife and we arrived in a driving rain storm. The road up the muddy Serraboella hill near the Barbaresco village of Neive was slick with mud and extremely treacherous. Just getting from the...
This vintage yields a more restrained style after the generous character of the 2019 vintage. The 2020 wines are impressively fresh with balanced alcohol and aromas, a fresher, more Atlantic character, and good acidity. It was an...
Importer's Notes: Gunther Kershbaumer loves his vineyards. He just doesn’t have enough of them. As the reference point producer in the Isarco River Valley, Kofererhof wines are in high demand, so he’s always looking for new parcels to...
Importer's Notes: The Rheinberg kabinett comes entirely from the quartz dominated higher sections of the Rheinberg hill, facing south east. Vines are around 25 years old with much of the vineyard planted in the 1990s. Harvested in the beginning of...
This small estate with cellars near the town of Neive is about as Old School as it gets. Although there is a computer, a fax and a telephone in the office these days, there is virtually no other technology in sight. The old stainless steel...
Importer's Notes: Considered one of the finest winemakers in France, Dominique Lafon produces some of the most coveted white Burgundies. He strongly believes in the potential in Maconnais where he has been making terroir-driven wines since 1999...
Mario Marengo is one of Barolo’s most stalwart producers. First from a tiny cantina right on the main road through La Morra and now further up the hill in Serradenari, this small estate has been making great wine since 1899. Currently...
Nicholas Altare loves the land, the countryside, and his work. He has the good fortune to find himself with an estate handed down from generation to generation, and to have found a mentor in Barolo producer Ferdinando Principiano. Until 2015 his...
Wine Country: Italy Wine Subregion: Piemonte Wine Sub-subregion: Barolo Wine Varietal: Nebbiolo The much-anticipated debut of the Oddero Monvig! As polished, floral and elegant as this vineyard can be with a dash of the Oddero austerity