Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: July 9, 2006 By James Suckling
Football (soccer) is life in Italy. I am sitting in Castilgone della Pescia on the coast of Tuscany with some friends, and I can hear the horns of cars and the screams of people. Everyone is so happy here! Italy is the champion of the world tonight.
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: July 7, 2006 By James Molesworth
I usually prefer simple food with great wines, like a grilled steak with a big Bordeaux or Rhône – or the opposite, complex foods with simpler wines, such as seafood with exotic spices and sauces with a clean, crisp white.
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: July 7, 2006 By James Laube
I’m taking a few days off, but I leave you with a couple of thoughts – questions, actually. One is the claim by some that winemakers deliberately make wines to suit certain critics’ palates, and in turn to win accolades, or more specifically, points.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: July 7, 2006 By James Suckling
I went to visit winemaker Bibi Graetz of Testamatta yesterday in the hills above Florence near the town of Fiesole. Bibi, 38, is a cool winemaker and is producing some exciting reds from classic Tuscan varietals such as Sangiovese, Colorino and Canaiolo.
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Posted: July 6, 2006 By Harvey Steiman
The name on the door says Guy Savoy, a chef ranked among France's elite. The raw prawns on the plate, prepared and presented with jewel-like precision, couldn't be more French. Jean et Sebastien Dauvissat Chablis Premier Cru Montmains 2002 sparkles in a balloon glass.
Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: July 5, 2006 By James Molesworth
Thanks to the four-day weekend, I was able to pillage my cellar a little bit more than usual. And when I looked back on the carnage of empty bottles (the heavier the recycling bin, the better the weekend, I say), I saw how the weekend could be divided up into its own wine flights.
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: July 5, 2006 By James Laube
Following up on last week's blog post , I participated in a panel of wine critics this past Saturday, at the Institute of Masters of Wine event in Napa, and the three of us used similar terms to describe our perception of wine quality.
Blogs
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Posted: July 5, 2006 By Harvey Steiman
When your wine business takes off, you might think all the news would be good. After all, cash is rolling in, people like what you're doing, you like what you're doing. Life is good. That would seem to apply to the Hatchers and the Tannahills, partners in A to Z Wineworks in Oregon.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: July 5, 2006 By James Suckling
Visited the Ferrari factory in Maranello for July 4th with a couple of friends who were picking up their F430 convertibles and then driving to Le Mans for the 24-hour race – lucky guys! During a lunch at the factory, I was shocked to hear that they wouldn’t be buying any 2005 Bordeaux futures.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: July 3, 2006 By James Suckling
Had a couple of friends over for dinner last night and sat outside in the patio drinking a couple of Barolos with a grilled pork loin and parsley salad. The wines were 1997 Vietti Barolo Lazzarito and 1996 Paolo Scavino Barolo Cannubi.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: June 30, 2006 By James Suckling
I was sitting today at lunchtime in the mountains overlooking the town of Merano in Italy’s Alto Adige and eating some smoked ham and drinking a glass of crisp white wine. And I began to think about 2005 Bordeaux futures and the world of wine.
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: June 30, 2006 By James Laube
Tomorrow I’m speaking at the Institute of Masters of Wine Symposium in Napa. It’s a three-day affair that this year is exploring, among other subjects, changing consumer expectations. I’m on a panel, with Jancis Robinson and James Halliday.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: June 29, 2006 By James Suckling
Today Château Le Pin – Pomerol’s ultra-collectible, tiny-production, pure Merlot – released a few thousand bottles worth of 2005 futures on the Bordeaux market at 450 euros from its cellar, and the wine was bought up in minutes.
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Posted: June 28, 2006 By Harvey Steiman
Conventional wisdom says that Australia does great at Shiraz and pretty well at Cabernet. But Merlot? Pinot Noir? Not on the radar. Especially, you might think, at the low end. So explain this. I am blind-tasting through a lot of low- to mid-priced reds as I prepare my next Australia red wine report, which Wine Spectator will publish in the fall.
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: June 28, 2006 By James Laube
As much as any California vintner of his time, Al Brounstein did it his way. He decided to make mountain-grown Cabernet and stuck to his guns. But he borrowed a page from Burgundy and kept his vineyards separate.
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: June 28, 2006 By James Molesworth
I just spent $550 on a bottle of wine. Want to take a guess what it was. ’05 Latour? Nope. Haut-Brion? Nope. Margaux, Mouton or Lafite? Zip, zilch, nada. No, there are 15,000 to 20,000 cases made of each of those wines, and they’ll be in the marketplace from now until they mature.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: June 28, 2006 By James Suckling
There is apparently a limit for prices for 2005 futures in Bordeaux. Yquem closed its 2005 en primeur sales this afternoon at 3 p.m. in Europe following a less-than-enthusiastic response from the marketplace, according to sources in Bordeaux.
Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: June 27, 2006 By James Molesworth
With the passing of Al Brounstein , we lose a pioneer of the California wine industry and a wonderful character. I remember one of my first trips to Napa in the early '90s and a visit to Diamond Creek.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: June 27, 2006 By James Suckling
“Yes, it is crazy,” I said to a source in Bordeaux when I heard that the insanity continued today there with Cheval-Blanc and Yquem offered to the trade at 400 euros a bottle. That means the wines are going to be offered to the U.
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: June 27, 2006 By James Laube
On Friday, I did what many folks think I do every day. I tasted some great new wines and then had lunch with the men behind the wines, Kevin Harvey and Jason Jardine. Harvey is the owner of two labels, Rhys (pronounced Reese) Vineyards and Alesia.
