As most serious winos know by now, especially those who follow the Bordeaux market, sweet wines from vintage 2009 have garnered mostly rave reviews. Numerous chateaus have raised their prices significantly, in line with many red wine producers in the greater Bordeaux area. But wine lovers with a yen for Sauternes would do well to take a close look at the 2007s, most of which are now available in the marketplace. READ MORE »
The fact that rosé is a hot ticket these days is hardly news to winos who have strolled the aisles of their local shop or eyeballed a restaurant wine list recently. A decade ago pink wine was considered the height (nadir?) of bad wine taste, probably best exemplified by the sweet white zinfandels that flooded the market in the mid to late 1980s. No wine was less cool than a pink one then. But today you can’t swing a dead cat in a decent wine store in America without knocking over bottles of excellent rosé from practically every viticultural region on earth, including the U.S. READ MORE »
Chianti may be Italy’s best known wine: wines from Clantum were already being written about in the 11th century. Per the rules of the DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita), sangiovese must constitute 80% or more of the final blend, with up to 20% other grapes allowed, including pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah, or local varieties like canaiolo nero and malvasia nera. Chianti no longer contains white grapes, as it did when it was invented back in the 19th century by Baron Ricasoli, or even up to the 1980s, when these grapes were gradually phased out in an effort to allow for greater longevity. READ MORE »
Australia may be the last place on earth that most American fans of bone-dry riesling would think of looking for these wines. And this is perfectly understandable, considering that we’ve been marinating in rich, lavishly fruity shiraz for the last decade. Those wines are the polar opposite of steely, mineral-driven riesling, which requires a cool, marginal climate to help it retain acidity and verve. READ MORE »
