Blog Index

James Molesworth

More from Day 8 and into Day 9: Chapoutier and Rostaing

Posted: 09:26 AM ET, 11/08/07

I waited to file my blog based on my tasting at Maison Chapoutier since, frankly, I needed to take a deep breath and clear my head afterward.

For me, after tasting such an exhilarating set of wines (several dozen in total, and not a clunker in the lot), I thought it best to see if that exhilaration would last. Read more

Harvey Steiman

Pizza in America

Posted: 02:50 PM ET, 11/07/07

In the past few months pizza has popped up more often on my radar. Is it just me or is the world of pizza (and wines to order with them) getting more interesting?

• A new pizzeria called Gialina opened in my neighborhood in San Francisco, making a crisp, Neapolitan style. Read more

Bruce Sanderson

Two New Champagnes from Pommery

Posted: 01:38 PM ET, 11/07/07

Champagne Pommery will release two new cuvées in the United States early next year.

The Brut Blanc de Blancs Summertime NV and Brut Blanc de Noirs Wintertime NV are new blends from Pommery’s vice president and winemaker Thierry Gasco. Read more

James Laube

Lake County Delivers Some Great Syrah Values

Posted: 12:34 PM ET, 11/07/07

Escalating land and grape prices in Napa and Sonoma have led many North Coast vintners to Lake County grapes, which typically sell for about one-third of Napa’s top varieties. Easy math means the wines can sell for about one-third as well.

Lake County is an old grapegrowing area due north of Napa Valley and east of Mendocino. Read more

James Suckling

Kobe Steaks, Roasted Monkfish and Yquem?

Posted: 12:32 PM ET, 11/07/07

It¹s sort of weird that Pierre Lurton, the president of Château d'Yquem, said that his favorite dish with old bottles of his famous sweet wine is sweetbreads (riz de veau). He said that he particularly likes a slightly drier Yquem, like 1975, with the well-known offal. Read more

James Molesworth

My Old Friend Brett

Posted: 08:41 AM ET, 11/07/07

George Brett was the most feared hitter of his generation, next to Mike Schmidt. He’s not the brett I met on this trip, however. No, that brett is brettanomyces, a spoilage yeast that typically infects old, unclean barrels and results in (depending on the strength of its presence) either faintly sweet or downright nasty barnyard odors. Read more

James Laube

The Year in Corks

Posted: 04:14 PM ET, 11/06/07

I missed the debate about wine closures in Napa on Oct. 27, which featured To Cork or Not to Cork author George M. Taber, along with other industry experts, who discussed twist offs and synthetic closures. But it reminded me to check on how corks performed last year in our California wine tastings. Read more

Dana D'Anzi

Cookies: The Cure-All

Posted: 03:25 PM ET, 11/06/07

When I was first asked to write a blog for Wine Spectator, I thought (in no particular order):

What’s a blog?

What could I possibly write about that would interest sophisticated people like the ones who read Wine Spectator?

There’s no way I can do this!

Why me?

Maybe they’ve asked several chefs, and all the others actually have a clue as to what to write!

Are they serious?

Maybe if I ignore the request it will just go away!

Do they really think I can do this?

Maybe I’ll get some extraordinary inspiration and the words will simply flow right out!

But I’ve lived in Las Vegas almost 10 years now, and have never hit a Royal, so I knew that luck was not on my side. Read more

James Suckling

Agony and the Ecstasy

Posted: 12:35 PM ET, 11/06/07

The Chateau d’Yquem tasting I blogged about yesterday actually started Saturday night at Chinois on Main, Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant in Santa Monica. There were 13 different vintages of the legendary sweet wine with three French-Chinese fusion dishes for dinner. Read more

Richard Betts

Was It a Good Vintage?

Posted: 08:04 PM ET, 11/05/07

This is a question that we sommeliers hear on a nightly basis, as our guests wade through our wine lists and entertain our suggestions.

The answer is invariably "yes," but often we do not give pause in the context of a busy evening to launch into the "why. Read more

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