Blogs
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Bruce Sanderson Decanted
Notes from several Brunello verticals I've tasted since returning from Italy in April
Posted: August 29, 2011 By Bruce Sanderson
Since my visit to Tuscany in April, I have had opportunities to taste quite a few Brunellos di Montalcino thanks to visiting producers. The first was Col d'Orcia, whose export manager Paola Tealdi presented six vintages of its single-vineyard Poggio al Vento Riserva. Lunch with Riccardo Illy of the Illy coffee company provided the setting for an introduction to his Montalcino estate, Mastrojanni. Francesco Ripaccioli, whose family owns the Canalicchio di Sopra estate, stopped by Wine Spectator's office with almost a dozen bottles spanning 2006 to 1995, including the recently bottled 2006 Riserva.
Blogs
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Bruce Sanderson Decanted
From Uccelliera, the tiny jewel “birdcage,” to Montalcino’s largest estate, American-owned Castello Banfi
Posted: June 21, 2011 By Bruce Sanderson
I spent two days in Montalcino during my trip to Tuacany. I toured the region with Stefano Campatelli, the director of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino and visited five estates. Here are my notes on my last three visits, to Uccelliera, Siro Pacenti and Castello Banfi.
Blogs
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Bruce Sanderson Decanted
Tuscany’s most celebrated appellation features diverse landscapes and wines. Biond-Santi represents the tradition
Posted: June 1, 2011 By Bruce Sanderson
I spent two days in Montalcino during my trip to Tuacany. I toured the region with Stefano Campatelli, the director of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino and visited five estates. Campatelli also organized a blind tasting of 16 Brunellos, mostly from the 2006 vintage, and nine Rossos, all from 2009. At dinner with the consorzio directors later that evening, we enjoyed some older vintages of Brunello riservas, including Biondi-Santi's dating back to 1955. Here are my notes.
Collecting
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Collecting News
If wine collector believed bottle was fake when he bought it, he can't claim fraud, judge finds
Posted: March 21, 2011 By Mitch Frank
News & Features
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News
Sources estimate 80 percent of ice wine on sale may be fake, a sign of the dangers in a young but lucrative wine market
Posted: February 3, 2011 By Ben O'Donnell
Collecting
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Collecting News
Bill Koch ends his lawsuit against auction house after it agrees to change its catalog language
Posted: January 25, 2011 By Mitch Frank
News & Features
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News
Medical researchers in Texas identify grape varieties by fingerprinting differences in tannins
Posted: December 30, 2010 By Augustus Weed
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
When finding a bottle purchased years ago is counterfeit, is the wine merchant still obligated to make good?
Posted: April 30, 2010 By James Suckling
I had dinner the other night in L.A. again with my collector buddy from Hong Kong, Hendra Anwar. We went for some pasta at Angelini Osteria restaurant, which is always good. Hendra brought a couple of Burgundies: 2002 Fontaine-Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet and 1991 Armand Rousseau Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes. I brought a bottle of 1997 Antinori Bolgheri Superiore Guado al Tasso Tenuta Belvedere.
But the most interesting part of the evening for our vinous endeavors was Hendra's insistence that the wine merchant who sold him two cases of bogus 1978 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle was still responsible for the sale after 15 years. (For more on that, check out my April 23 blog.) Yes, he bought the wine 15 years ago and he wants it to be replaced, or get a refund.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Dining with a friend at Cut in Beverly Hills, we enjoyed some very impressive Burgundies, with one notable fake exception
Posted: April 23, 2010 By James Suckling
My friend was really pissed off. Hendra Anwar, who lives in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, invited me for dinner last night at Cut in Beverly Hills and brought some amazing bottles to drink, including a 1989 Louis Latour Montrachet, 1993 Emmanuel Rouget Echézeaux, and 1978 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle. What almost ruined his night was that the last wine was a rotten fake.
Collecting
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Collecting News
Bill Koch's new lawsuit alleges German engravers carved Jefferson's initials on bottles and that auction house staff ignored evidence of fake wines
Posted: April 1, 2010 By Peter Hellman, Mitch Frank
Collecting
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Collecting News
Suit claims two German engravers testify they put "Th.J." on Jefferson Bordeauxs
Posted: March 30, 2010 By Mitch Frank, Peter Hellman
News & Features
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News
Federal alcohol authorities are also investigating the fraud case
Posted: March 8, 2010 By Tim Fish
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
After Gallo's Red Bicyclette scandal, considering when and where quality control, or lack thereof, most damages a wine's reputation
Posted: February 22, 2010 By James Laube
Wine Spectator senior editor James Laube looks at the recent Gallo Red Bicyclette scandal and ponders the state of quality control, and pricing for various levels of quality, in the wine industry.
News & Features
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News
Languedoc wineries and merchants blended cheaper Merlot and Syrah in Pinot Noir for Gallo brand
Posted: February 17, 2010 By Diana Macle, Tim Fish
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Car troubles can't ruin a day of tasting recent Brunello vintages in Montalcino
Posted: February 2, 2010 By James Suckling
Wine Spectator senior editor James Suckling is in Montalcino tasting the 2005 vintage of Brunello (as well as a few more recent vintages), despite some car troubles in the freezing weather.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Italy's financial police have turned their eyes toward makers of Chianti Classico
Posted: December 14, 2009 By James Suckling
Wine Spectator senior editor James Suckling reports that Italy's financial police are now investigating makers of Chianti in Tuscany based on fraud allegations similar to those which faced some makers of Brunello di Montalcino for two years.
Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
As fraud spreads, it's easy to combat
Posted: November 30, 2009 By James Molesworth
Wine Spectator senior editor James Molesworth discovers that a winery's claims to outstanding Wine Spectator reviews are not always what they seem.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Counterfeiting is a problem for trophies, but we can relax and enjoy most wines
Posted: November 25, 2009 By James Suckling
A wine merchant told me a story recently about a customer who wanted to return two cases of 1982 Bordeaux, even though the bottles and labels were in perfect condition. Apparently his customer had served the wine at a dinner with friends and everyone around the table was suspicious of the bottles because the labels and capsules were perfect. They looked new. Moreover, the wine was incredibly fresh and beautiful, like it was 10 years younger.
What his customer didn't know was that the two cases came directly from the cellars of the château.
Collecting
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Collecting News
Random House Settles out of court with Michael Broadbent, who claimed book defamed his character
Posted: October 16, 2009 By Mitch Frank
Blogs
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2009 Harvest Winemakers' Blog
Whites have been crushed; Nebbiolo harvest just starting in Barbaresco
Posted: September 23, 2009 By Gaia Gaja
Kicking off her harvest blog from Piedmont and Tuscany, Gaia Gaja reports on the 2009 growing season to date at her family’s three properties—Gaja Winery in Barbaresco, Ca’ Marcanda in Bolgheri and Pieve Santa Restituta in Montalcino—and the start of the white-wine crush.
