“All this Prosecco DOCG, so little time!” As journalists from various points of the world sauntered into the elegant Hotel Le Betulle in the Congegliano Valdobbiadene region of NorthEast Italy, all eyes were upon the gorgeously laid out bottles of Prosecco in various iced buckets, the foiled necks of the bottles a surprising rainbow of [...]

“Oh, I see you have been studying,” says the gentlemen seated next to me. We are sitting in the private downstairs dinning room of the new Lafayette restaurant downtown here in NYC, where journalists have gathered to hear Mr. Duboeuf speak about the 2012 vintage which is now hitting the market. The gentlemen is referring [...]

“You’re French is quite good!” exclaims the very attractive and very polite Anne-Laure Helfrich, project manager for her family’s Les Grands Chais de France. Anne-Laure and oenologue/brand manager Nicolas Haeffelin were in Manhattan to showcase their Grand Cru wines, which astonishingly perfectly made. I suppose one can argue that when you own Grand Cru terroir, [...]

The Association of Wine Educators, based in the UK, organized a fabulous trip to Bordeaux to celebrate our 2oth anniversary.   Our home base was Chateau Pey La Tour, which is owned by Dourth.  So on Thursday May 9th, we gathered together at the CIVB in Bordeaux, which is near the tourist office to hear [...]

Recently back from a trip to Alto Adige, Master Sommelier Geoff Kruth. lead a tasting and seminar of the wines of Italy’s most northern region. It was an interesting seminar … the focus was on the multitude of varieties grown and unique microclimates within the region. I was in Trentino a few months back … [...]

“Not many people in this room will be around when the 2011 vintage comes of age,” pronounced a member of the Symington family, as we tasted the 2011 vintages from their various holdings (Warre, Dow, Cockburn’s, Quinta do Vesuvio, Graham’s)  … and (please do not be jealous!) also the Cockburn’s 55, Graham’s 66, Warres 70, [...]

  So I had such a fab time meeting Winemaking brothers, Matteo and Jacopo Giustiniani at Jacopo’s new Felice wine lounge in the financial district. Both brothers are incredibly charming, and I had the very lucky experience of being able to speak to both of them in depth, beginning with Matteo, who attended wine school [...]

    A celebrity in Bordeaux and throughout the wine world, Professor Denis Dubourdieu has been Professor of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux since 1987. He owns five wineires (Château Doisy-Daëne, Clos Floridene, Château Reynon, Château Cantegril and Château Haura) and is a widely respected consultant to some of the best Chateau in Bordeaux, [...]

Chateau Kirwan was generous enough to host a fabulous tasting of the wines from Moulis-en-Medoc, Listrac-Medoc, Margaux and the Medoc.  Co-Owner  and publicist Sophie Schyler-Thierry – always stunningly dressed – met us at the door and escorted us into the tasting. As you can imagine, this tasting offered some of the best wines in Bordeaux [...]

It was a delightful treat to blind taste the 2012 vintage of Saint Julien, Pauillac, Saint Estephe and Haut Medoc at 3rd Growth Chateau Lagrange.  Head winemaker Bruno Eynard welcomed journalists to the Chateau in a charming fashion, and made everyone feel comfortable. Given the four regions to be tasted, it was a rather challenging [...]

I love all the wines of Bordeaux, yet there is something so unique about Graves and Pessac-Leognan. This blind En Primeur tasting was very exciting for exactly that reason! Latour-Martillac were excellent hosts, and as I wrote before, the hosting chateaux all scored very well so they must have known early on they had a [...]

Fabulous tasting of wines from Chateau Beauregard for En Primeur on April 10 … What was most interesting the entire week, the Chateau hosting the tasting often had the highest rated scores! In earlier posts, I explained that two groups of journalists (including myself) taste “blind” in that we make our notes before we get [...]

Always such a pleasure to visit Chateau Cheval Blanc!   The 2012 vintage was challenging … buds broke later than usual, and the vines grew very unevenly in April as a result of the difficult weather conditions.  The harvest began on September 27th for Merlot and October 6th for Cabernet Franc. Despite this, the composition [...]

How curious an entire year has passed since I last sipped various vintages of Chateau La Faurie Peyraguey with fellow journalists, under the delightful care of technical manager Eric Larramona, an attractive man in his thirties who looks a bit like a very handsome Clark Kent (you know, Superman) with dark hair, sleek designer glasses, [...]

Every year, the Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB) organizes a welcoming dinner for journalists and members of the trade. This year, the event was generously hosted at Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere on the outskirts of the medieval town of Saint-Emilion, at the southern foot of the slope. The 19.5 hectare vineyard has a complex, outstanding [...]

So the Tasting of Sauternes and Barsac this year was at La Tour Blanche — very generous of them to host the tasting this year! As always, I am in one of the two “blind” tasting groups which means that we all taste the wines and write our notes without knowing the winery. The other [...]

“Now Chile is planting Marsanne and Rousanne,” says Fred Dexheimer MS, giving a presentation to a packed room full of sommeliers at CorkBuzz today. Having just arrived a few hours before from a trip to the wine regions of Austria, I would have preferred a break before delving into a new region – yet never [...]

  Amidst the glittering parties during April’s En Primeur in Bordeaux, Henri Lurton, owner of the 2nd Growth Brane-Cantenac, launched the 3rd “Brane Seen Through the Eyes and Lens of …” art exhibition series. Following on the heels of last year’s dramatic, more impressionistic photographer Eric Boissenot, is this year’s modernist photographer Francois Poincet, whose fun, [...]

“Oh, you’re coming to our Chateau Wednesday night!,” says Jose Sanfins, technical director of Chateau Cantenac-Brown in Margaux. We have just exchanged cards, and are sitting together at a festive Diner d’accueil at Chateau Canon la Gaffeliere in Saint-Emilion.  It is Monday night – the kickoff night for En Primeur 2013 – and over a [...]

As a seasoned wine writer, I’ve seen my share of creative wine promotions, yet nothing – so far – has exceeded a recent promotion for Burgundy wine created by the Burgundy Wine Board (BIVB) and Sopexa! The idea of the promotion was to showcase the the regions and wines of Burgundy and show how well [...]