On drunkenness… or dronkenesse
When the word drunkenness comes into conversation it has various associations. In my mind’s eye I think of the great Hogarth “Gin Lane” sketch of debauchery and unconsciousness. Or the…
Doug Decants: Keramos by Kamara
When the Kioutsoukis family migrated from East Romylia in the early 1900’s, a region at the Black Sea coast well known for its wine to Greece, they carried with them…
Musings on Wine Tastings, Storytelling through an Oregonian lens
A bottle of wine amounts to the framing of countless choices. It does not even have to be a bottle – a key keg, a pouch or a can may…
What’s the deal with Costières de Nîmes?
Making the delta an alpha The region which we now refer to as the Costières de Nîmes boasts a viticultural history going back several centuries BCE when the Greeks were…
The First Vintage Reports of 2022: Part Two
A tale of heat and drought Maison Cazottes As you probably know, this year was particularly hot and dry. From January to October we had a total of 384 mm…
Doug Decants: Maison Maurice Choppin
“Real Pagne” Nestled in Damery, just a few kilometres from Épernay, Maison Maurice Choppin has been working the unique terroirs of the Marne Valley for more than seven generations.…
Doug Decants: The Wines of Bufadors, Alt Penedès
Sparkling new adventures in “Corpinnat-shire” Bufadors (the name “Bufadors” refers to the Puig dels Bufadors, the hills of the Black Mountain of Cadaqués), is a new label created by Ton…
Autumn Trade Tasting: France vs the Barbarians
With France hosting the next rugby world cup final, whimsical variations-on-the-oval-ball-game seemed an appropriate theme for our tasting as, after all, we are Les Caves de Pyrene, our origins rooted…
The First Vintage Reports of 2022
Elisa Guerin, Domaine du Moulin d’Eole, Moulin-à-Vent, Beaujolais After a spring where we almost had frost again at the beginning of April and a summer with worrying heat peaks,…
Why are some wines more expensive than others?
Cecil Graham: What is a cynic? Lord Darlington: A man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing. Cecil Graham: And a sentimentalist, my dear Darlington, is…