Guest Post: On the Abracadabra of Bottling by Hannah Fuellenkemper

September 16, 2019

—Hannah Fuellenkemper I know that wine is about transformation, but no one warned me about the transformative power of packaging, and how in seconds it could change what had been a previous leaking nuisance into a thing. Perhaps this is one of those ground-up things they teach you at wine school along with paperwork and […]

Read the full article →

Doug Decants: Recent Orange Additions: Part 1 – France

September 3, 2019

Although times they-are-a-changing and French vignerons and vigneronnes are cottoning on to making skin-contact wines, there was a time when you would have to search hard to find an amber-hued wine from any region of this country. The natural wine revolution gradually liberated growers to try different methods; admiration of producers and wines from Georgia, […]

Read the full article →

Wines of the Year (so far) – Part One

September 3, 2019

Doug & Elliott pore over some of their favourites… In an ongoing series, we (Les Cavistes) decant the wines that rocked our respective boats and rolled our barrels in the first part of 2019. Doug: My wines of the thusfar year often manifested themselves in bizarre clusters, three or four stellar nepenthean (e’en) bottles at […]

Read the full article →

A Humble Alternative to the Top Fifty Vineyards in the World – Part Two.

September 3, 2019

Read Part One here. A recent report (voted by “experts”) listed the Top Fifty Vineyards in the World. It seemed more about companies with edifice complexes, than anything to do vineyards, vines, terroir and the people involved in making the wine. The quality of tourist facilities, fanciness of the restaurants, architectural meretriciousness and opulent surroundings […]

Read the full article →

Georgian Wine Times Have Returned!

September 2, 2019

Georgian wines, that is, wines from the Republic of Georgia, have certainly been capturing the hearts and minds of the UK trade over the past few years. For seekers of authenticity and tradition, Georgia may be viewed as a place that could claim an original— in fact, THE original—wine culture, namely 8,000 years of cultivating […]

Read the full article →

We’ve got a not-so-little-list

August 21, 2019

As some day it may happen that a vigneron must be found, I’ve got a little list — I’ve got a little list Of Georgian growers who bury clay pots underground, And who would certainly be missed — who would utterly be missed! There’s the Chateauneuf growers who have… well, you do the maths — […]

Read the full article →

Latest US Arrivals

August 21, 2019

The latest batch of US wines to have hit our shores contain some real summer slurpers from Populis and Evan Lewandowski, some new wines from Kelley Fox, Minimus and Martha Stoumen and plenty of fresh new vintages. New in from California (& Utah!) Martha Stoumen Wines, California Martha has chosen to work with sun-loving grapes: […]

Read the full article →

Doug Pores Over: Decanting

August 18, 2019

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go —T. S. Eliot It is scientifically proven that aeration through decanting a wine does not serve to soften the tannins. The great Emile Peynaud was adamant that wine did not benefit from extended exposure to oxygen, which is […]

Read the full article →

Doug Decants: Damejeanne from La Garagista

August 16, 2019

The project known as La Garagista Farm + Winery began in 2010. In essence, Deirdre and Caleb farm three parcels of co-planted, alpine varietals that are horticultural crosses of vinifera and native riparia and labrusca vines. The family trees of these varietals are quite baroque and uniquely American. They practice biodynamics and also pull from […]

Read the full article →

Les Caves discovers…Calabria!

August 15, 2019

Sometimes known as Italy’s toe, and divided from Sicily by the narrow Strait of Messina, Calabria juts out between the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian Seas. Its northern border with Basilicata, meanwhile, is marked by the southern Apennine peaks. In this hot region tempered by breezes off the sea and cool air flowing down from the […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →