Michel Theron, the one-man show behind Clos du Jaugueyron, can be applauded simply for his small scale of production. Or for his commitment to biodynamic farming, which is far more challenging – and quite a bit more rare – on the perpetually humid Left Bank than in most places. But none of that would matter much if Theron wasn’t a supremely gifted winemaker.
Posted on October 11, 2023
Lee Madueno
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Muscadet—like Burgundy, Champagne, the Mosel, Piedmont, and a few other wine regions of the world—has become known for the terroir of individual parcels. At its best, Muscadet is one of the great, terroir-driven (and cellar-worthy!) dry white wines of the world. And yet, it costs just a fraction of what most of the others do.
Posted on October 04, 2023
Lee Madueno
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Autumn is here, and that means it’s time to drink Riesling. Not sweet Riesling – we’ll get to that when the weather cools off some more – but something dry. Let’s drink something from Eva Fricke.
Posted on October 01, 2023
Lee Madueno
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Crochet has long been one of the best in the entire Loire, and a cornerstone of the Neal Rosenthal portfolio for over 40 years. They have some of the best plots in Bué, where the domaine is based, as well as Vinon and Crézancy. Unsurprisingly, their straight Sancerre Blanc is several rungs above your average Sancerre-by-the-glass.
Posted on September 24, 2023
Joshua Cohen
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Here's a story of someone who really cares about vineyards. Who does everything to allow the vineyard to express its characters through wine. This requires attentive farming, preferably organic and without irrigation. It requires hands-off wine-making, using traditional techniques that the monks in Burgundy figured out long ago.
Posted on September 20, 2023
Lee Madueno
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What is a perfect white wine? In on warm evening late in the summer, it will be a wine that is effortless. It will be the wine that can be invisible: so drinkable that it seemingly disappears without notice; so unfussy that nobody will feel compelled to discuss it. And yet so delicious—and just complex enough—that if anyone cares to stop and think it will be well worth the moment.
Posted on September 13, 2023
Joshua Cohen
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La Boutanche is a collaboration between venerable natural wine importer Selection Massale and some of their best winemakers. Famous for brightly colored labels depicting different imbibing humanoid animals, each one distinct to the corresponding winemakers, these humbly priced wines have become sought after for their crowd pleasing powers and natural wine converting abilities.
Posted on September 10, 2023
Lee Madueno
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Just off Highway 128 on the stretch between Rutherford and St. Helena, you would be forgiven for suspecting that Young Inglewood is yet another new face in the heart of the Napa Valley producing over-priced wines. But they are open for visits, so go there, and you will discover something very different.
Posted on September 06, 2023
Lee Madueno
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We have had the pleasure of watching Megan’s growth as a winemaker. Fun and funky in the beginning there was always an impression that these were made by talented hands. Fast forward to now and Megan is making some of the state’s most terrier driven wines that are as poised and complex as they are a joy to drink.
Posted on September 03, 2023
Lee Madueno
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