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Stylized image of Domaine Bois d'Yver Chablis 2020

Organic Pioneer in Chablis: Thomas Pico's Hidden Gem

If you love focused, terroir-driven white Burgundy, you shouldn't hesitate – Pico’s wines – and Bois d’Yver in particular – exemplify why Chablis stands among the world's great wine regions. 

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Stylized image of Arianna Occhipinti bottle

Occhipinti: Still Changing the Conversation

At this point, we’ve written about Arianna Occhipinti so many times that coming up with something new feels like a challenge. We’ve talked about her commitment to organic farming, her influence on Sicily’s natural wine movement, and how her wines—today we have SP68 Rosso, SP68 Bianco, and Il Frappato—offer some of the purest expressions of the Vittoria region.

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The Old-Fashioned Wines of Mario Fontana

The Old-Fashioned Wines of Mario Fontana

We just wrote about Mario Fontana’s winery in November. But now that Gambero Rosso has named him “winemaker of the year”, we think it’s important to write an article about his winery every time we get a new release of his wines. Last time, we had only his top-end Barolo. This time we have a few more accessible options to throw into the mix.

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Stylized image of Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet Briords 2023

Pepiere’s Briords: A Grand Cru Oyster White

The wonderfully briney, complex whites of Muscadet remain some of the most underappreciated wines in the world. We’re not complaining, though — this lack of hype keeps first-rate examples insanely affordable even when they come from the best names in the region.

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Stylized image of Musiguillo bottle

Mustiguillo and the Great Values of Valencia

Spain is starting to look more and more like the wine scene in Italy, with lesser-known regions surging forward to show off their own native varieties and traditions. These offer great opportunities to seek out wine adventure and value! 

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Bagnol: Mediterranean Rosé for a Special Night?

Bagnol: Mediterranean Rosé for a Special Night?

Provençal rosé is often crisp, light, and easygoing, but Domaine du Bagnol’s Cassis Rosé 2023 offers something more. Cassis, a tiny appellation between limestone cliffs and the Mediterranean, produces wines with real depth and character. While roses from nearby Côtes de Provence are simple and refreshing and nearby Bandol’s rosés are deep and structured, Bagnol’s rosé strikes a balance: mineral, bright, and complex, yet effortlessly drinkable.

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Ghostnote: Tasting, not speaking

Ghostnote: Tasting, not speaking

Brad Friedman is making wines with Italian varieties and the wines have true varietal character. The Sagrantino has the traditional darkness, a note that might remind you of a Paulo Bea wine. But Brad’s aren’t Italian wines and his Sagrantino also has California joy, a coastal freshness, a new world sense of delight. 

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Stylized image of Clos de la Roilette Fleurie

Clos de la Roilette: On Moulin-à-Vent and Fleurie

What makes Moulin-à-Vent special is the presence of manganese in the soils. This has a tendency to deepen Gamay and to give it more structure. It’s no wonder that for centuries Moulin-à-Vent has been considered a grand vin, comparable to a great Burgundy. And indeed, it’s a Cru Beaujolais that can age incredibly well, often tasting more and more like Premier Cru Burgundy as it develops.

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Great, but not Fancy: No Es Pituko's natural bargains

Great, but not Fancy: No Es Pituko's natural bargains

The wine name, "No Es Pituko," is Chilean slang for "it ain't fancy" – and that tells you exactly what these wines are about.

Sure, they're made from rare, ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines that the Echeverria family has farmed since 1923. And yes, the farming is biodynamic and the winemaking is natural. But there's nothing pretentious here. Just pure, natural wine from hand-harvested fruit, fermented with wild yeasts and bottled without fining or filtration. Even the price is as far as you can get from snob appeal.

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Stylized image of Pierre Gonon Saint Joseph Rouge 2022

Gonon: The Bucci of St. Joseph?

It’s tempting to keep this article short because people will buy this wine almost no matter what we say here. But we are here to educate as well as to sell, so we thought it would make sense to take a couple of paragraphs to remind everyone why it is that Gonon is so well loved.

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Stylized image of Valravn Pinot Noir

Valravn Pinot Noir: New Wine Economics?

For years we’ve heard your complaints, and we’ve done plenty of the same sort of grumbling ourselves. Yes, we love California artisanry, and we think it is a huge improvement over industrial production that has long dominated – and still dominates – our state’s wine industry. But those artisanal wines are so expensive! Yes, most of us are happy to spend $30, or even far more, for a great bottle of wine. But what about something simple and inexpensive? Do we really have to turn to industrial concerns to provide them?

No we don’t. There is just starting to emerge a new class of wine in California that may be the most exciting of recent trends.  New wineries with true artisanal spirits are making everyday, affordable wines. One of the best we’ve come across is Valravn.

Why aren’t there more Valravns out there? Probably, it’s because producing wine this good for such a low price is really hard. It takes a force of nature. Someone like proprietor Baron Ziegler, the kind of guy who bought Bordeaux futures when he was 15 and then flipped them for enough profit to make his first real estate purchase. Baron already had several wine projects behind him (he started Banshee for example) before he founded Valravn.

Their 2023 Sonoma Pinot Noir is a shockingly good under $20 value. It delivers juicy fruity freshness with an undertone of Pinot “earth”. It’s the kind of simple, joyful wine that makes up a big part of day-to-day life in European wine regions (think Dolcetto) but that is just not a big enough part of our culture here. 

We are so happy that, just maybe, it’s becoming a thing:

Valravn Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2023 - $19.99

 

This story was originally featured in our newsletter, where it was offered at a special subscribers-only discount. Subscribers get special offers, the first look at new discoveries, invites to events, and stories about wines and the artisans that make them.

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Stylized image of Serafino Rivella Barbaresco Montestefano 2020

Serafino Rivella: Great Terroir plus Great Techniques

It’s easy to understand why everybody who loves Piedmont is so excited by Serafino Rivella’s Barbarescos. 

First of all, it all comes from Montestefano, the great Cru in the commune  of Barbaresco where Teobalda and Marta Rivella grow 100% of their Nebbiolo. The Cru is special because its vineyards point straight south and there is a concentration of limestone in the soils that is higher than anywhere else in Barbaresco. The result is dark and brooding Barbaresco that is long lived and easy to mistake for Barolo.

The tradition is pure Piedmont, to the point that a noted UK wine professional once said: “imagine if Maria-Theresa Mascarello [of Bartolo Mascarello] made Barbaresco, it would taste like that!”. There are long macerations, Mascarello-style, followed by up to 40 months of aging in huge neutral casks.

Add to tradition and terroir one final ingredient: laser focus. They make only two wines, a Dolcetto, and today’s Barbaresco – all from vines that were planted around 60 years ago.

Today’s 2020 is not just a great Barbaresco, but also a nicely approachable one. Like many 2020s, there is a freshness and an openness to the wine that makes it just so appealing. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of Montestefano burliness and depth to carry the wine for years and even decades in the cellar. 


Serafino Rivella Barbaresco Montestefano 2020 - $119.99
"The 2020 Barbaresco Montestefano is gorgeous. Sweet scents of pipe tobacco, spice, dried herbs, mint, leather and crushed autumn leaves all grace this exquisite, super-classic Barbaresco. The 2020 offers a beguiling mix of the slightly oxidative character that is typical here with bright Nebbiolo acids that add a counterpoint. The 2020 can be enjoyed now with aeration. A bottle tasted that had been opened 24 hours in advance was nicely softened, while a freshly opened bottle showed a bit more nervous energy. The overall flavor profile was pretty similar. 94pts" - Antonio Galloni (Vinous)


This story was originally featured in our newsletter, where it was offered at a special subscribers-only discount. Subscribers get special offers, the first look at new discoveries, invites to events, and stories about wines and the artisans that make them.

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