Blog Index

James Laube

Two Pioneers with Different Styles

Posted: 02:51 PM ET, 02/14/08

We lost two pioneers of the California wine industry this past week. They were about as opposite as they could be, but they shared a dream.

Peter Newton built one of Napa’s architectural icons in Sterling Vineyards, then sold it and started another winery, Newton. Read more

James Laube

The Rarity—and Importance—of Tasting DRC

Posted: 03:49 PM ET, 02/13/08

I just finished reading Bruce Sanderson’s notes on the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti tasting. I’m glad that the domaine is showing its wines and envious that Bruce has tasted the wines twice.

Like most Burgundy lovers, DRC tasting opportunities and drinking experiences are not to be missed. Read more

James Suckling

The Indiana Jones in All of Us

Posted: 11:29 AM ET, 02/13/08

Where’s the strangest place you have ever found a very good cellar? I knew a guy about 20 years ago who spent a lot of his free time during the war in Vietnam discovering old wine cellars in hotels full of great bottles of Bordeaux from the 1950s and 1960s. Read more

Harvey Steiman

Making Wine Show Different Faces

Posted: 11:14 AM ET, 02/13/08

Chef Daniel Patterson deserves applause for the food he made for the Washington wines at the dinner I organized last week.(See Part I of this blog for what the dinner was all about, and my comments on the wines I plucked from my cellar.) His series of nine dishes for the six wines not only shone on their own, but different dishes made the same wine show unexpected strengths. Read more

James Laube

Sneak Preview of the 2005 Rubicon

Posted: 04:17 PM ET, 02/12/08

I had a sneak preview of the 2005 Rubicon last week and this should be one of the greatest wines from this storied Napa Valley estate.

Owner Francis Ford Coppola is obsessed with making Rubicon one of Napa's first-growths, and he has the vineyard and winemaking talent to do so. Read more

Richard Betts

11 to Win: A Broken Case Can Be a Winning Buy

Posted: 06:45 PM ET, 02/11/08

I love the number 11 and I’ll tell you why. When it represents a shortfall from a full dozen, it implies a difference of opinion that can be a wonderful window of opportunity for a counter-intuitive wine drinker.

I just spent a long day on a transatlantic flight perusing some of the recent wine auction catalogs. Read more

James Laube

Bear and Rattlesnake with Jackass Zin

Posted: 05:03 PM ET, 02/11/08

School fund-raisers ain’t what they used to be. Forget bake and garage sales. How about grilled rattlesnake with a double magnum of 2002 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir to wash it down?

On Friday I was invited to a wild game feast hosted by vintners Pam and Lee Martinelli. Read more

Harvey Steiman

A Good Night for Washington Wine

Posted: 11:44 AM ET, 02/11/08

Every year I donate my presence, and wines from my cellar, to a dinner in San Francisco offered at the Central Coast Wine Auction. Wine collector Archie McLaren and I host the top bidder and friends at a restaurant of my choice. Last week we occupied a table for 10, one-fourth of the dining room, at the 40-seat Coi, Daniel Patterson's extraordinary place on the fringe of North Beach, and served a range of wines I've cellared from Washington. Read more

Bruce Sanderson

The 2005s from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti: Great Terroir in an Exceptional Vintage

Posted: 01:23 PM ET, 02/09/08

Three factors joust for influence in any wine from Burgundy: the terroir, the growing season and the winemaker. The terroir is constant; if the vintage or the winemaker dominates, the wine loses. Read more

James Laube

Layer Cake Aims for Quality and Value

Posted: 06:18 PM ET, 02/07/08

Layer Cake is another of Jayson Woodbridge’s passion plays. But unlike his $250-a-bottle Hundred Acre Cabernet, or his new designer vineyard acquisition, Pickett Road, LC is aimed at value wines and hopefully will subsidize Woodbridge’s more ambitious vinous pursuits. Read more

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