The Magic of Alsace’s Grand Crus When it comes to French wines, the term Grand Cru has a magical connotation. But just how magical the name of a particular Grand Cru vineyard and the wines named after it really are depends enormously on the region. Both in terms of reputation and to your pocketbook, it…
It’s the best young vintage of Voillot wines that any of us here at Vintage ’59 Imports has ever tasted. And that’s no lie, no smoke. It’s at least as good–and probably better–as 2010 and 2002, which previously had been the two best vintages from Volnay/Pommard in my experience. The two Village wines are the…
In a recent Wine of the Week, critic Esther Mobley of The Chronicle recommends a light-bodied red from Madson, an exciting new label. She says that their Pinot Noir seems to be the vinous incarnation of early Northern California springtime. Read the article here.
Where are the real bargains today in the world of fine wine? John Anderson in winereviewonline.com suggests that you look to Beaujolais in the bottlings of small, individual growers who deliver tremendous bang for the buck. He adores the silkiness of the Domaine du Pavillon de Chavannes’ wines, their perfume and their length on the…
Mélanie Pfister’s family started making wine in the Alsace region of France in 1780. She is trailblazing new ways to showcase the area’s wines in non-traditional ways as well as to champion women in wine—she created the diVINes d’Alsace, an association of female winemakers and vineyard managers. The Cuvée 8 is a wine Mélanie dreamed…
Lawrence Ferlinghetti passed away on February 22. He was 101. Among the many poems he wrote was this wonderfully descriptive one, in which wine evokes memory. Drinking French Wine in Middle America by Lawrence Ferlinghetti Bought a bottle of Vouvray and poured out its bouquet of the French countryside on the plains of Middle America…
We lost a good one last week. Stéphanie Caslot, one of three siblings who run Domaine de la Chevalerie in Bourgueil, passed from cancer. Like her father, she was one of a kind–a caring, vibrant and vivacious soul. You can glean a sense of all of that in this video.
Jean Le Calvez has died at the age of 94 from Covid. Originally from Breton, he settled in Minervois after falling in love with his war-time pen pal. Thus began the story of Château Coupe Roses. Read it here.
Conservation viticulture–no till, diversity, and permanent cover crop–builds microbial soil life, keeps pests and weeds at bay, and increases carbon and nitrogen in the soil. Read Part 2 in a recent Jancis Robinson post. Pictured above are the vines of Melanie Pfister, one of our growers in Alsace who has long practiced conservation viticulture.
Conservation viticulture–no till, diversity, and permanent cover crop–builds microbial soil life, keeps pests and weeds at bay, and increases carbon and nitrogen in the soil. Read about it here in a recent Jancis Robinson post. Pictured above are the vines of Melanie Pfister, one of our growers in Alsace who has long practiced conservation viticulture.
