May 2007
Posted: May 31, 2007 2:03pm ET
Just got back from quick walk after work in the countryside with my 9-year-old daughter Isabel and my two dogs, Archie and Annie. The weather is a bit variable at the moment with sunshine as well as showers.
Read More
Posted: May 30, 2007 11:53am ET
A couple of weeks ago, a Milan-based company called WineTip put together a tasting of 2006 barrel samples from a handful of producers in Italy in hopes of promoting the idea of selling wines en primeur, or wine futures.
Read More
Posted: May 25, 2007 11:45am ET
I was thinking about 2005 Bordeaux today for some reason. Maybe it’s because most of the top-name 2006s have not been released on the market as futures, and very few people are interested in the wines, except for wine merchants who have to safeguard their allocations? Who knows? Anyway, the 2005s are so impressive.
Read More
Posted: May 24, 2007 11:44am ET
I found some pieces of paper on my dresser this morning with tasting notes from the night of the Grand Tour in Vegas a few weeks ago, where I tasted some amazing wines. Of course, the hundreds of wonderful wines on pour were excellent enough, but I hooked up with some buddies from Zurich at Delmonico Steakhouse following the tasting.
Read More
Posted: May 23, 2007 11:19am ET
I had dinner last night with some top red producers from Piedmont, including Luca Currado Vietti of Vietti , Alessandro Ceretto of Ceretto , Pio Boffa of Pio Cesare , and his nephew Cesare Benvenut. Much of the conversation was about the U.
Read More
Posted: May 22, 2007 2:01pm ET
On the way back from Cannes , I stopped in Piedmont to blind taste about 60 2004 Barbarescos. The results will be published on-line soon, and later in the magazine. It’s an outstanding vintage, producing wines with the richness and ripeness of 2000 and the freshness, structure and acidity of the 2001.
Read More
Posted: May 21, 2007 4:00am ET
I spent the weekend in Cannes for the film festival with some friends from Hong Kong, including Peter Lam, director of Media Asia, which is one of the largest film companies in the Far East. He’s a big time wine collector as well.
Read More
Posted: May 18, 2007 10:32am ET
Sometimes, old ideas should be left for the history books. At least that’s my idea with the few producers in France who are blending Bordeaux with the Rhône. Why bother? Historically, Bordeaux reds were “Hermitagé,” in the late 1800s and early 1900s, to help buttress the body and richness of wines.
Read More
Posted: May 14, 2007 11:43am ET
Okay. I am late. Forgive me. Tomorrow is today. And I can tell you about drinking the 1990 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche. In fact, I also was lucky enough to have drunk it with three other DRC’s at the dinner at Les Sources de Caudalie in Bordeaux last Wednesday with supercollectors/friends from Hong Kong, including 1996 DRC Richebourg versus 1995 DRC Richebourg and 1991 DRC La Tâche versus 1990 DRC La Tâche.
Read More
Posted: May 10, 2007 12:37pm ET
I had a couple of dinners with some friends from Hong Kong in Bordeaux. And not only was some of the food great but the wines were superb as well. They had brought dozens of fantastic bottles of Burgundy from their cellars in England to share with the Bordelais.
Read More
Posted: May 7, 2007 11:47am ET
Grand Tours are great events. There are so many excellent wines to taste and many of the owners and winemakers are there to taste with and talk to. But a lot of the action also takes place before and after the main event.
Read More
Posted: May 4, 2007 11:32am ET
Tuscans need steak; that’s all there is to it. Florentine vintner Lamberto Frescobaldi was in Los Angeles at the same time I was before heading off for Las Vegas for the Grand Tour , so I told him we should pick up a rib eye with the bone at one of my favorites in La La, Carlito’s Gardel, the Argentinean restaurant on Melrose.
Read More
Posted: May 3, 2007 8:19am ET
I was drinking some strong coffee this morning and checking out our Forums when this posting in Wine Conversations interested me: Most Embarrassing Wine Moment. Where do I begin? You probably think that I never have them, being a wine expert of varying degrees.
Read More
