Blog Index

James Molesworth

Day 4: The Drive For Five In Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Posted: 01:57 PM ET, 06/20/08

As good as Mordorée and Lafond are, I couldn’t stay in Tavel and Lirac forever; that other town kept calling me back. The sun was shining from the start today, and the temperature quickly rose into the 90s, relieving the stress that had built up among vignerons over the wet and gray weeks that preceded my trip, so what better to do than check in at five of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s best domaines?

An early morning visit with Marie-Joseph Michel at Le Vieux Donjon was up first. Read more

James Laube

Napa's Chicken Ranch to Cult Wine Central

Posted: 01:27 PM ET, 06/20/08

If you build it, they will come, or flock as it might be considered.

"It" is, after all, what the locals in Napa Valley still refer to as the Chicken Ranch. It was once one of Lambert Farms key chicken coops, though it hasn’t been home to chickens for some time. Read more

James Molesworth

Day 3: From Châteauneuf to Tavel

Posted: 12:14 PM ET, 06/20/08

Domaine Vacheron-Pouizin, located in the northern end of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, on the back road heading north from Château Rayas, is owned and run by Sylvie Vacheron. The domaine was bought by Vacheron’s grandfather in 1939, but World War II prevented it from functioning as an estate. Read more

Harvey Steiman

Wine and Salad

Posted: 11:44 AM ET, 06/20/08

I practically live on salads when the weather gets warm. And despite the old saw that wine doesn't go with salad, I'm not giving up my glass of the grape just because dinner has some cold veggies in it.

In her 21st cookbook, Mediterranean Fresh (Norton, $30), Joyce Goldstein has collected some of the most enticing salad dishes I've seen in a while. Read more

James Suckling

Real Deal Pinot Grigio and Dinner Alfresco at My House

Posted: 04:23 AM ET, 06/20/08

I had this year's first outdoor dinner in my courtyard in Tuscany last Wednesday. The weather has been so cold and wet so far this summer. As one wine producer told me the other night at dinner, “If the weather doesn’t change for the better, we are going to make water and not wine in 2008. Read more

James Laube

New Napa Cabernets Worth Seeking

Posted: 02:29 PM ET, 06/19/08

I have an answer to one of your pressing new-wine queries. But the other wine so many of you have been curious and patient about, well, it hasn’t passed my way yet.

Ovid 2005 is every bit as good in bottle as it tasted out of barrel a year ago. Read more

James Molesworth

Day 2: A New Quartet of Châteauneuf Domaines

Posted: 01:10 PM ET, 06/19/08

A second straight day of gloomy, rainy weather dogged Châteauneuf today, with each grower I visited touting the increasing need for the official arrival of summer later this week.

After bumping into Lucien Michel of Le Vieux Donjon on the street and chatting for a few minutes (his No. Read more

James Molesworth

Day 1: A Trio of Well-Known Estates

Posted: 04:00 PM ET, 06/18/08

I make an annual stop at Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, so you can reference my previous Cellar Notes and blog entries for the basic background on this domaine, as well as the F. & D. Brunier-owned La Roquète and Domaine Les Pallières estates. Read more

James Laube

A Quick Tour of Londer Vineyards

Posted: 02:51 PM ET, 06/18/08

Larry Londer gave me a brief tour of his spectacular Anderson Valley vineyard on Sunday, and he paused to explain about how he got into Pinot Noir and share the view.

For those of you who’ve never been to Anderson Valley, in Mendocino, well, it’s a great place to visit, with lots of new vineyards and wineries. Read more

Maynard Keenan

Frost and Other Vineyard Issues: The Best Way Out is Always Through

Posted: 11:44 AM ET, 06/18/08

It appears we've managed to overcome our frost issues with our Merkin South and East vineyards. Last year, we installed a frost fan to move the cold air before it has a chance to settle on the vines and cause "winter kill." As an experiment, we only placed one fan in Merkin East and did our best in Merkin South to experiment with mounding along rows, grow tubes around young vines, both, neither—take notes, graph the results, scratch our heads, mutter some observations. Read more

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