June 2010
Baron Thenard, one of Burgundy's largest owners of the Montrachet grand cru vineyard, makes its United States debut
Posted: Jun 25, 2010 11:51am ET
Earlier this month I attended a lunch with Jean-Baptiste Bordeaux-Montrieux, whose family owns Domaine Baron Thenard in Givry. The domaine covers 57 acres of vineyards from Givry, in the Côte Chalonnaise, to Grands Echézeaux, just north of Vosne-Romanée.
But its jewel in the crown is 4.5 acres of Le Montrachet on the Chassagne side of the appellation, making Thenard the second-largest proprietor of the esteemed grand cru. We had the opportunity to taste six vintages of the Montrachet at lunch, along with current vintages and a few mature versions of Givry Cellier Aux Moines and Givry Clos St.-Pierre.
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Regarded by some as the best producer in Abruzzo, Valentini's wines are shrouded in mystery yet in a class by themselves
Posted: Jun 18, 2010 2:45pm ET
Valentini is regarded as the best producer of wines in Italy's Abruzzo region. Edoardo Valentini, who made some of the best Abruzzese wines from 1956 until he died in 2006, shunned the media, visitors and traditional distribution channels to sell his wine. Valentini's son Francesco Paolo now continues his father's legacy. Even his U.S. importer, a native Italian, cannot penetrate the secrecy and mystery as to how the wines are made.
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The winegrower’s association comes to New York with some rare older vintages
Posted: Jun 15, 2010 10:04am ET
The VDP hosted a lunch in New York at Le Bernardin, showcasing a number of its members’ wines, including some rarities from 1959, 1953, 1949, 1935 and 1921 vintages.
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A tasting of the 2008 and 2009 base wine components of Veuve Clicquot's Yellow Label with chef de cave Dominique Demarville
Posted: Jun 9, 2010 2:41pm ET
Veuve Clicquot’s chef de cave Dominique Demarville shares 18 base wines, known as vins clairs, with me to showcase some of the components of the Brut NV “Yellow Label” blend and how he and his team use these as building blocks for the cuvée.
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Veuve Clicquot Champagne tames the smoke and spice of a range of barbecue dishes at New York's Blue Smoke restaurant
Posted: Jun 4, 2010 9:42am ET
I recently visited New York's Blue Smoke barbecue restaurant to taste a range of Veuve Clicquot Champagnes with a wide variety of barbecue dishes from the menu. Some of the pairings were a revelation.
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Is 2009 another great vintage for German Riesling?
Posted: Jun 1, 2010 11:31am ET
I had the opportunity to taste another range of German Riesling from 2009 recently. Nik Weis, the proprietor of St.-Urbans-Hof was in New York and presented his range of Mosel Rieslings to our New York tasting coordinator Alison Napjus and myself. This was my second opportunity to taste the 2009 vintage after a recent lunch with Raimund Prüm and his wife, Pirjo Oksanen of S.A. Prüm.
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