Blog Index

James Laube

From Behrens & Hitchcock Comes Erna Schein

Posted: 01:37 PM ET, 11/09/07

When Behrens & Hitchcock dissolved their partnership in 2005, ending a run of both classy and racy red wines, Les Behrens and his wife, Lisa Drinkward, took over the Spring Mountain winery and reinvented themselves as Erna Schein Handcrafted Wines. Read more

James Suckling

Classic Beauty of Cheval-Blanc

Posted: 10:50 AM ET, 11/09/07

Cheval-Blanc has a unique style. It’s a wine that really has somewhereness to it, for lack of a better phrase. Or it is what the French say, “a wine from great terroir.” I love the perfumed and aromatic quality of the wine and its silky, refined texture. Read more

James Molesworth

Day 9: Jean-Michel Gerin and Stéphane Ogier

Posted: 09:33 AM ET, 11/09/07

My previous visits with Jean-Michel Gerin have always started with an early morning, stomach-churning drive up into his vineyards in his mini-truck. This visit was different. We started with an early afternoon, stomach-churning drive up into his vineyards in his 1984 Renault, which he proudly showed only had 27,000 kilometers on it. Read more

James Laube

A Clean Hit From Paso Robles

Posted: 01:43 PM ET, 11/08/07

Each new day brings at least one new label, and two of the wines that stood out in yesterday’s blind tasting came from a name that’s new to me: Terry Hoage Vineyards.

The wines alone would have merited mention. But after the bags came off and I had a chance to look at the labels I noticed one had "46" on the side and I wondered: Could this be a reference to the famous 4-6 defense taught by Buddy Ryan? No. Read more

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

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