Wine of the Year: Chateau Palmer 2009 Margaux
Wed, 12/22/2010 - 20:43
I must confess, I decided the 2010 Wine Talk Wine of the Year the moment I tasted it. It was late March and I was visiting Chateau Palmer in Margaux during the Bordeaux Primeurs. Barrel samples from the much-anticipated 2009 vintage were being evaluated throughout the region, and there was an air of excitement at every stop. I was trying my best to ignore the inevitable hype. But I succumbed there on the sedate grounds of one of the…
Read MoreThe Difference a Vintage Makes
Wed, 11/03/2010 - 05:30
On one cool but glorious August afternoon in Paso Robles, as the winds came up, I pulled on a sweater and my thoughts drifted to the coming harvest. California vintners were about to experience a vintage like no other, the first in memory without the blistering daytime temperatures that ensure the grapes will fully ripen before the inevitable autumn rains. "I'm thinking about grafting my Cabernet over to Pinot Noir," winemaker Gary Eberle quipped. "This time of year, it's…
Read MoreThe Importance of Terroir
Tue, 10/26/2010 - 21:12
Surely, you are familiar with the word "terroir" as it is applied to the taste of wine. It is a French term, thus bound to be confusing. In fact, wine journalists for years have offered various mind-bending explanations of terroir, which seems to defy precise definition. So I was intrigued when a colleague recently posted a column on the website Wine Review Online headlined "Demoting Terroir." Author W. Blake Gray made almost no attempt to explain terroir, choosing instead…
Read MoreValue Wines From Sud de France
Sun, 10/17/2010 - 05:12
As a young wine enthusiast, sometime in the early 1970s, I took great pride in foraging the bargain bin to come up with superb wines that would impress my various wine mentors. In the day, the gems were likely to be relatively obscure Bordeaux, perhaps from an "off" vintage. I can remember stocking several cases of Chateau Gloria, a cru bourgeois from Saint-Julien, because I loved the wine and the price was right, considerably less than $10 a bottle.…
Read MoreMore Wines Like This Please
Thu, 08/26/2010 - 06:05
This week I recommend two wines that both thrilled me, and gave me pause. They are a Syrah and Merlot from Nickel & Nickel, the Napa Valley winery that is the epitome in impeccable winemaking. Nickel & Nickel produces a number of vineyard-specific wines that illustrate the diversity and quality of terroir throughout Napa and Sonoma. The wines that got my attention were a Syrah from the Darien Vineyard in the Russian River Valley and a Merlot from the…
Read MoreBrunello Producers Vote for Modernity
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 02:20
Perhaps, you are new to wine and wondering what's up with this war for the Brunello. It is, after all, merely wine. That is so true, and at the same time so wrong. The battle lines have been drawn through the very soul of one of Italy's most important wine regions — Montalcino, birthplace of the Brunello di Montalcino nearly 150 years ago. Once upon a time, it was an impenetrable fortress against marauders, who would have sacked the…
Read MoreRethinking the Value of Expensive Wines
Tue, 08/03/2010 - 06:01
As I pulled together my tasting notes for this week's column, it occurred to me that value was very much on my mind. My definition of value might appear to be quirky to some because it doesn't necessarily mean cheap. So, I recently ran across several bottles of 1998 Gaja Sperss marked at $250 per bottle. I discovered the wine merchant was willing to negotiate and got the price down to $150. I took all four bottles that were…
Read MoreWINE TALK - Finding the Sweet Spots in Wine County Travel
Tue, 05/18/2010 - 20:38
It is being widely reported that consumer confidence is on the rise and more Americans than we've seen in the past few years are planning trips this summer to exotic locales. This is good news for the wine industry, which has taken its lumps through the great recession.It's no secret that wine enthusiasts have a thirst for travel, too. The Napa Valley is the best example. From early spring through the end of harvest in mid-November, it is the Disneyland…
Read MoreWINE TALK - Ten Affordable Chardonnays
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 21:03
Although Chardonnay remains the No. 1 white wine choice for most U.S. wine buyers, the myth persists that good Chardonnay exists only at the upper echelon and the rest is mainly plonk.I say nay.The price of Chardonnay grapes has sagged along with the economy, so there's no reason enterprising vintners (or those who own their own vineyards) can't source excellent grapes for the purpose of producing classy Chardonnay.Gary Eberle of Paso Robles is a case in point. His Chardonnay…
Read MoreWINE TALK - Midwestern Wine Dazzles California Judges
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 15:27
After 17 years as director of the venerable Monterey Wine Competition, I've come to expect the unexpected. So, surprised I wasn't when the hands went up en masse as we polled the judges on the one Vignoles in the showdown for Best of Show white wine this year.Vignoles is a French hybrid grape that was developed in the first half of the 20th century to combat phylloxera, a microscopic bug that devastated the vineyards of Europe and North America…
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