harvest 2010

New reviews of appealing 2010 reds that won't break the bank

12 Bordeaux Under $20

Posted: January 25, 2013 By James Molesworth

New reviews of highly rated reds, most from the 2010 vintage

12 Outstanding California Zinfandels

Posted: January 14, 2013 By Tim Fish

Blogs : Mixed Case: Opinion and Advice

How Do They Do It, Part 2: Meet the People Who Make $500 Wines, $10 Wines—And Everything in Between

It takes a vision—or a few dozen of them—to turn thousands of acres into millions of bottles. The stakes are high, and plenty can go wrong

Posted: December 27, 2012 By Ben O'Donnell

At the Penfolds Nuriootpa winery in Barossa, you can crush 22,000 tons of grapes. At Chateau Ste.-Michelle, 2.8 million cases of wine go out the door every year. If you are Peter Gago or Bob Bertheu, head winemakers at Penfolds and Ste.-Michelle, respectively, how do you even process and track so much stuff, let alone make it good?

"That's why God created Microsoft Excel, I guess," replied Bertheu. I asked four winemakers who head up large-to-massive operations that produce dozens of different cuvées in all price ranges, from $10 quaffers on up to the storied $600 Penfolds Grange. In my previous post on the subject, I gave a sense of the scale of the task and wrote about how the four keep tabs on their growers and grapes through harvest. Now I'll explain how they juggle as many as 52 different wines at once.

World-renowned consulting enologist Michel Rolland and his wife, Dany, call Château Fontenil home

The Bordeaux Diary: Back to Terra Firma, With a Stop in Fronsac

Posted: December 17, 2012 By James Molesworth

Finally, after 11 straight days of all-day tasting, it was time to get some fresh air. I slammed my laptop closed to punctuate the end of the tasting, put on my vineyard shoes (it's rained steadily since I've been here and the vineyards are muddy) and headed over to Fronsac to get back in touch with terra firma. After all that, my first stop is Fronsac, you ask? Not a first-growth or Sauternes estate?

With 2,000 acres of vines and 71 producers, Fronsac is just a blip in the overall scheme of Bordeaux. It pales in size and reputation to its cross-river neighbor St.-Emilion, for example, and the wines are often overlooked by the marketplace. But there must be something to Fronsac, if Michel and Dany Rolland call it home.

Pessac and St.-Estèphe round out my Left Bank 2010 Red Bordeaux tastings before finishing with the sweet wines of Sauternes

The Bordeaux Diary: The End of a Marathon

Posted: December 13, 2012 By James Molesworth

I spent the last few days of my 2010 Bordeaux tasting by working through the reds of St.-Estèphe and then Pessac.

The reds from Pessac, with their typically tarry spine and sometimes wild notes of tobacco and ash, were a standout group, with the fruit showing the extra amplitude of the vintage and the structure evident but well-integrated. Branon turned in a very strong showing, as did some of the usual suspects. There really were no disappointments.

After confirming initial impressions of the 2010 Bordeaux vintage on the Right Bank, I'm working my way through Margaux, Pauillac, St.-Julien and more

The Bordeaux Diary: The Back Stretch of a Long Race

Posted: December 10, 2012 By James Molesworth

I'm getting into the meat of my 2010 Bordeaux tasting now, having worked through the Right Bank wines of St.-Emilion (which takes two full days), Pomerol and their various satellite appellations. As mentioned briefly in my last blog, the wines are showing very, very well.

I have started in on the Left Bank now, tasting wines from the Médoc, Graves and Margaux. The highlights so far, though, have come from Pauillac and St.-Julien.

New reviews of lesser-known Cabernet- and Merlot-based reds from Bordeaux's potentially classic 2010 vintage

16 Impressive Red Bordeaux

Posted: December 7, 2012 By James Molesworth

With about 700 wines to taste and two weeks to taste them, I hit the ground running in Bordeaux

The Bordeaux Diary: Settling In

Posted: December 5, 2012 By James Molesworth

I arrived as scheduled in Bordeaux - just on time for lunch. I like to plan things like that...

My annual in-bottle Bordeaux tasting is easily the biggest and longest single tasting I do. When in my New York office, I taste every day, but perhaps only 20 or 30 wines a day. When I travel in the Rhône, I may taste dozens of barrel samples in a day, but I'm not writing formal notes or reviewing those wines, since they are unfinished, sometimes just lots of pre-blends, and not tasted blind. That makes the Bordeaux tasting unique.

New releases of exciting Pinots from the 2010 vintage, each priced at $30 or less

11 Oregon Pinot Noirs

Posted: November 30, 2012 By Augustus Weed

New reviews of Russian River Valley Pinot Noirs from the 2010 vintage

8 Exciting Sonoma Pinots

Posted: November 26, 2012 By MaryAnn Worobiec

From the Iberian Peninsula to Germany, winegrowers faced low quantities of grapes and a lot of work in the vineyards

2012 Vintage Report: Europe

Posted: November 20, 2012

A wet spring and a hot, dry summer lowered grape quantities across the Italian peninsula and kept winegrowers working hard

2012 Vintage Report: Italy

Posted: November 19, 2012

Winegrowers earned their paychecks as they dueled tough, wet growing conditions all year; the Rhône was a bright spot

2012 Vintage Report: France

Posted: November 16, 2012

The sun came out for a warm, dry growing season in the Pacific Northwest; East Coast winemakers managed to dodge a hurricane

2012 Vintage Report: United States

Posted: November 15, 2012