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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: June 26, 2006 By James Suckling
Call it a shooting star, or whatever. But Ausone, the tiny superstar from St.-Emilion, came out today to the Bordeaux trade for 500 euros a bottle, and, yes…believe it or not, the wine trade couldn’t get enough of it.
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: June 23, 2006 By James Suckling
Today Latour and Margaux (two potential 100-pointers in my mind) put their 2005 futures on the market for 350 euros ex-chateau to the Bordeaux wine trade. They were quickly trading at 410 to 420 euros to clients around the world.
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: June 23, 2006 By James Molesworth
The American palate prefers only fruit-forward wines. It’s a statement that you hear often these days – by terroir -driven wine producers and purist wine lovers who decry what they see as a trend toward a homogenization of wine styles.
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: June 22, 2006 By James Suckling
I am speechless. Lafite and Mouton released their 2005 futures to the Bordeaux wine trade in the last 24 hours for 300 euros a bottle, and the global wine trade can’t get enough. In fact, I have been told that many are reordering! This means that Lafite and Mouton 2005 will be about $650 a bottle to American consumers – or more.
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Posted: June 22, 2006 By Harvey Steiman
If San Francisco's chefs and restaurateurs look pale these days, blame it on the Michelin Man. Or men. The restaurant inspectors have been visiting the city's eateries recently for the Michelin Guide's first book on San Francisco, due out in October.
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: June 22, 2006 By James Laube
Charles Banks is a relative newcomer to wine. But the 38-year-old has deep pockets, knows his way around financial markets, appears to be a quick learner and has some refreshing insights and perspectives on the business, even as he cuts his teeth presiding over his new winery in Napa Valley, Screaming Eagle.
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: June 21, 2006 By James Molesworth
I sat down with Alexandra Marnier-Lapostolle the other day. The owner of Chile’s Casa Lapostolle tempted me with a complete vertical of her Clos Apalta , a blend of Carmenère, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from a small, old-vine plot in the Apalta area of Chile’s Colchagua Valley.
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: June 21, 2006 By James Laube
Charles Banks looks at the wine business the same way he views a pro-sports franchise. Not a surprise when you consider that his partner owns two pro franchises and he has close ties to many stars and star athletes.
