From the category archives:

Features

Discovering the Pleasures of Burgundy Wine During the Hospices de Beaune

by Marisa D'Vari18 November 2009
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                                   Streets of Beaune
 
Here we are at Hospices de Beaune in the beautiful city of Burgundy, one of the oldest and most prestigious wine auctions in the world. It was created in the Middle Ages, the city’s solution to helping the poor and ill. Today the auction is managed by Christie’s and attracts a glitzy [...]

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Tasting Fun at Hospices de Beaune Auction

by Marisa D'Vari18 November 2009
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Chocolate and Wine — A Perfect Match
Do you like chocolate? If so, you may be curious to know that it pairs very well with wine — especially wine from Burgundy. Here I am, on the kind of gray overcast day that makes the charming city of Beaune even more mysterious, about to attend a chocolate [...]

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Hospices de Beaune Weekend: Part 1

by Marisa D'Vari18 November 2009

Nellie Blau Picard in center
Have you ever wondered what it is like to attend the oldest and possibly most prestigious wine auction in the history of the world? Well, I am right here at the center of action in Burgundy at the festivities leading up to the Hospices de Beaune auction.
I just finished a fantastic [...]

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Discovering Beaune

by Marisa D'Vari14 November 2009
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 “One of the challenges in the region is creating international awareness that wine from Burgundy can be enjoyed every day, not just for special occasions,” explains a representative from the region. And it’s true – though Burgundy is known for its Grand Cru wines that sell for tens of thousands of dollars a case and [...]

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A Visit to Chateau Haut Bailly

by Marisa D'Vari1 November 2009
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Wearing a bright red, very elegant, fitted jacket with glossy dark hair spilling over her shoulders, Noemie Ruelloux, communications manager for Chateau Haut-Bailly, welcomes me to the Chateau. Haut-Bailly is situated on the left bank of the River Garonne, south…

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Visiting Wine Producers in the Jura

by Marisa D'Vari13 October 2009
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“No!” the passionate Frenchman says, starting a heated discussion about the Poulsard grape among a group of vignerons in the opulent dining room of the two-Michelin-star restaurant Jean-Paul Jeunet. We are in the Jura region of France, a wildly beautiful and rugged expanse of land with well-trained vineyards, spotted cows, and sleek horses at every [...]

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Exploring Wine Regions in the Jura

by Marisa D'Vari9 October 2009

Today marks my first day in the Jura, a remote and very historical area of France known for its famed Vin Jaune wines. Like Burgundy, Jura offers the international Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, yet it also offers the white Savagnin and two delicious red grapes, Trousseau and Poulsard.
As the region is just two hours’ drive [...]

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Exploring Bordeaux

by Marisa D'Vari20 September 2009
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Bordeaux Map
Bordeaux. The name says it all. This whisper of a word conjures up images of luxury, gorgeous chateaux, elegantly dressed aristocrats, and lavish, sophisticated living.
We won’t even get into all the centuries of romance novel-style drama that must have included arranged marriages for the sake of building a family dynasty and all that, yet [...]

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Exploring Brane-Cantenac

by Marisa D'Vari14 July 2009
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If you love fine wine, you probably know that the Chamber of Commerce of Haut Medoc classified the best wines in the region into five growths, or classes. To this day, French children are rumored to sing the names of the five First Growths in a nursery rhyme.
Yet what about the prestigious Deuxièmes Crus? Who [...]

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Exploring Chateau La Lagune

by Marisa D'Vari16 June 2009
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“If only people could imagine the riches!” says a wine connoisseur friend, standing in the gorgeous ballroom of the historic Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan. It is a sunny winter day, and celebrity wine writers have turned out to taste…

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Exploring Chateau Tayac

by Marisa D'Vari16 June 2009
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“Robert Parker spent an entire day here,” says the charming matriarch Annick Saturny, whose husband bought and created Château Tayac many decades ago. So far, this is the first Château I have visited that actually looks like the American ideal…

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Visiting Chateau Cailleteau Bergeron (Blaye)

by Marisa D'Vari26 May 2009
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“My grandfather created Château Cailleteau Bergeron in 1933,” says Pierre-Charles Dartier, a tall, affable fellow with the rugged, camera-ready good looks of a football star, standing in front of his family’s winery with his sister and partner, Marie Dartier. It…

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How to Drink Wine in the New Economy

by Marisa D'Vari15 January 2009
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What is the last “luxury” to go in this new economy? If you are a twenty-something, who in the last several years has come to discover and enjoy wine, you may be the answer to the wine industry’s prayers. While…

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A visit to Weingut Donnhoff

by Marisa D'Vari13 October 2008
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“Nature or nurture,” you might ask, wondering about the temperament of a child or the elements that go into a particularly delicious, well balanced wine. Today’s wine world is often a hotbed of deception. For example, if you find yourself…

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A Tale of Two Schlösser

by Marisa D'Vari28 September 2008
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In Germany, the word “schloss” means castle or “manor house.” These are historic structures, many first built during the Roman times near the very best vineyards in the land. The idea was to create a grand estate to showcase the…

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Conversations about Hochheim Riesling with Dr. Michel

by Marisa D'Vari28 September 2008
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Some German wine makers offer you a tutored tasting of their latest vintage, explaining the wines as you both taste in unison. Dr. Franz Werner Michel welcomes guests to his Hochheim estate with a lineup of his premiere Riesling wines…

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