No other producer quite achieves Peciña’s optimal combination of great farming from great terroir, respect for Riojan traditions in the winery (e.g., no French oak), a practice of holding back wines until they are ready to drink, and just an all-around attention to detail that results in exquisite wines.
We caught up with Eloise Maurel of WINGS to ask her a few questions about her fascinating work as a Bordeaux ambassador, in advance of our Right Bank Masterclass on Thursday, September 7.
Chionetti is one of the great names of Piedmont, but, as we’ve written many times over the years, they’re famous for the Dolcetto they grow in Dogliani. But the Chionetti family wasn’t satisfied being mere masters of Dolcetto and leaders of Dogliani. They wanted to get the chance to work their magic with Nebbiolo from very top terroir; to show that they can make Barolos that are every bit as delicious, terroir expressive, and long lived as their Dolcettos.
Dogliani’s image, that of a bucolic but somewhat sleepy window on the bustling Barolo landscape next door, belies its importance to Piemonte—and in turn, Dolcetto’s image as a pleasant but rather less serious neighbor to Nebbiolo doesn’t really do justice to the grape’s power in the hands of this benchmark producer.
September is here and our calendar is bursting with fun this fall. For starters, back-to-school isn't just for parents and kids: Flatiron Wine School has an expanded series starting in September and continuing into October. We're also looking forward to several great in-store tastings, a masterclass on Bordeaux and a cider celebration.
There are lots of producers of Bandol rosé, and certainly not all of them great. So how do you find the good ones? Well, one of our importer friends, Enrique Ibañez, took an intelligent approach to figuring that out: he went and visited the greatest producers in Bandol — and asked them for a recommendation. The answer that came back was a fairly new producer on the scene, Domaine Marie Bérénice.
Traveling around France with the Kermit Lynch team, visiting legendary growers and still-unknown up-and-comers, is one of the great thrills of working in wine. And when two colleagues and I got the chance to tag along, it was everything you could hope a trip down that particular wine route would be. We met superstars and new discoveries. But two of our favorite visits were with producers who fell in neither category: Domaine du Terrebrune in Bandol and Maxime Magnon in Corbieres.
When we first brought the Barge wines to New York they were still labeled domaine Gilles Barges. They were among the few “undiscovered” old school N. Rhone producers: beautiful, unfussed with wines that took time and had unreal soul. In the years since then Julien Barge, who worked with his father and grandfather before him, took over the domaine. The labels now say, Julien Barge, but the wines are as soulful as ever!
For a guy who makes a point of embracing the term “Burgundian,” Cameron’s John Paul makes some great Italian-inspired wines.
Our offer today is the newly arrived 2022 release of his Ramato, a recent Flatiron Wine School class favorite that has everything we love about this benchmark Oregon estate.
Brigaldara is a family winery. They've been fighting the good fight, working to preserve the traditional local wines — including Amarone — for ages. It's a multi-generational labor of love. But they have the same passion for, and put the same love into, their baby wines, these every day charmers, and we couldn't be more excited to share them with you today.
Marcel and his "gang," in addition to creating a wine movement, also resurrected a region that had become known for nothing but cheap, industrial-scale wines. Considering the talented winemakers there, and the excellent terroir found in Crus (See our guide to the 10 crus of Beaujolais) like Morgon, Fleurie, and Côte de Brouilly, it's easy to forget that not long ago, Beaujolais was far off most wine lovers' radar
They say a convert is the strongest believer, and Swiss-born Daniel Vollenweider believed in the Mosel as much — if not more — than native-born residents. He arrived in 1999, quietly set up shop in the mostly-forgotten Wolfer Goldgrube, and began producing intensely mineral, chiseled, and vibrant Rieslings. Daniel sadly passed away last year; Riesling lovers the world over have much to mourn, but his legacy is something to celebrate, too.
