September 2006
Posted: Sep 26, 2006 12:07pm ET
I stopped in at the Wines of Argentina trade show here in NYC yesterday. There were around 70 wineries pouring their wares, and a good crowd showed up (press and trade only). A solid buzz filled the room, and it was good to see.
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Posted: Sep 25, 2006 12:33pm ET
We were cleaning up from lunch on Sunday when I asked my wife, Nancy, what she had thought of the red. It was a social lunch with guests, so Nancy hadn't seen the bottle--only tasted the wine. "It was really good," she said.
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Posted: Sep 21, 2006 10:57am ET
I sat down the other day with Daniel Pi, head winemaker for Argentina's large Trapiche winery, which has historically lagged behind in quality. Since Pi joined the winery in 2002, however, things have turned around somewhat.
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Posted: Sep 19, 2006 10:12am ET
I sat down with South African vintner Beyers Truter last week, to talk a bit about Pinotage. I haven’t been kind to the Pinotage grape – at one time South Africa’s most important red varietal. I find the wines dominated by rustic, stemmy notes and an aggressive tannin structure.
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Posted: Sep 14, 2006 11:41am ET
It’s sad to see the new James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, drawing such fire. My wife says, “He’s not even handsome. How could they do that?” Ouch. I’m ambivalent on that particular subject.
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Posted: Sep 13, 2006 10:04am ET
All wineries require hard work – good ones even more so. The work is often all-consuming, and the returns can be minimal. Some pay off handsomely though, as has Bodega Colomé, an Argentinean winery owned by Donald Hess, the Swiss multimillionaire who founded, but has since retired from, the Hess Collection winery in Napa Valley.
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Posted: Sep 12, 2006 3:51pm ET
Last night, my merry band of BYOB-loving wine geeks got together for our pseudo-monthly wine night, this time at Nice Matin. When we planned it, we realized it fell on Sept. 11, and we had a collective pause before agreeing to proceed, despite the anniversary.
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Posted: Sep 11, 2006 3:48pm ET
I sat down last week with Marcelo Papa, one of Concha y Toro’s winemakers. He is responsible for the Casillero del Diablo and Marqués de Casa Concha lines, two sources of consistently very good to outstanding values.
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Posted: Sep 8, 2006 10:32am ET
The northern Rhône is gearing up for harvest as well, and it seems the area also has outstanding potential in 2006. Here are some early comments from some of the region's top vignerons and domaines...
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Posted: Sep 8, 2006 10:04am ET
While we're all enjoying the weekend, harvest is starting in the Rhône. I received numerous updates from vigerons who make Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône this week; here are just a few of their comments.
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Posted: Sep 6, 2006 4:15pm ET
I spent last weekend in the Hudson Valley of New York. It was rainy most of the time, but still beautiful. Rolling farm land, some good restaurants, and more than a handful of local wineries. I took the time to stop in at two of them.
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Posted: Sep 5, 2006 4:01pm ET
I know you're all bored of me talking about the Rhône all the time. So here's an update on the other French wine region I cover - the Loire. I thought you might be interested to read a few of the comments that I've received from vignerons over the last few days as they get ready for the 2006 harvest.
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