Three decades of Opus One
The place looks like an alien spider ship just descended to take over Oakville. Sitting on the valley floor next to Highway 29 and Oakville Grocery, Opus One has a grass lawn growing on its inclined circular walls. Scott and I imagined sliding down tha...
UCGB Debuts Bordeaux 2008 Vintage in the US
The 2008 vintage was not, initially, well-received in Bordeaux
It's not looking good for the 2008 Bordeaux. Decanter reports that France's two main newspapers, Le Monde and Le Figaro have panned the 2008 vintage. They say that the recent poor weather h...
Grab Bag Tasting of a Brunello and a Bordeaux – Episode #972
Gary Vaynerchuk picks two reds that have intrigued him, a Brunello from a favorite producer of his and a Bordeaux from the Cotes de Castillon. Having trouble viewing this video? Try the Quicktime version. Comments on this episode(254) Post a comment › “could some of your disappointment in the Barbi relate to the devil tha…”...
Chateau Palmer Harvest
Visitors to Chateau Palmer receive a book that goes into great detail about the history and philosophy of the Chateau. There is a great quote on page 15 of the book:What goes into the making of a grand cru is the mysterious trilogy of terroir, history...
Chateau du Tertre
While I was in Bordeaux, I was lucky enough to take a tour of Chateau du Tertre with Mathieu Huguet, a Wine & Viticulture Consultant based out of Bordeaux.The vines of Chateau du Tertre are planted on Le Grand Poujeau a large plateau with gravel soil that sits 20m over sea level.The property has been...
Sideways in Japan, $20 Champers, Bordeaux takes on the world! – sipped & spit
CHUGGED: Pinot? If you missed the Japanese remake of Sideways, check the trailer above. Glad the dump bucket scene was included! For more details, check out the Wine Economist’s post who says that they changed several key plot details, notably making it a paean to Cabernet, not Pinot. CONQUERED: world wine bars The Bordeaux wine...
2003 Chateau Pichon-Longueville: James Suckling “Best Wine of Year!”
I am so excited to read on Christian Seely's blog (managing director of AXA's wine investments) that James Sucking called Pichon-Longueville 2003 his wine of the year.
Really delicious wine, and Chateau Pichon Longueville is enjoying a great comeback after AXAs investment. The stories of the Chateaux in Bordeaux is more intriguing than any best...
SIPS: Reflecting on ‘True Grit,’ the movie and the wine
I usually ignore wine and pop culture tie-ins, such as the one I received not long ago for “True Grit” featuring the re-make of the movie classic and the wine of the same name. In this case, however, not only did I thoroughly enjoy both but was fas...
SWIRLS: wine as top investment, iPad wine lists, iPhone bottle opener, Long Island wine in China, Joe Bastianich
SWIRL: As an investment, fine wine, as in top Bordeaux, has outperformed all other asset classes for a second straight year, beating out gold, oil and stocks. Decanter.com has the full story. SWIRL: A Chicago steakhouse is among the latest...
6th Day of Christmas: Sparkling Bordeaux; Yes, Sparkling Bordeaux
It’s nice to know that after writing about wine for 26 years I can still be surprised. Readers, I had never heard of Crémant de Bordeaux, or I passed right over it in my reading, so I jumped at the chance to try three examples when they were offered to me as samples. Clive Coates,...
The Christmas Eve Dinner Wine: Chateau Bahans Haut-Brion 2001
Fans of super-ripe, velvety, alcoholic cabernet- and merlot-based wines from California might have a difficult time understanding Chateau Bahans Haut-Brion 2001, a classically spare, lean, highly structured yet sensually appealing red wine that we drank with our usual Christmas Eve dinner of standing rib roast and Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts in brown...
