Clos Cazals Champagne Grand Cru Blanc De Blancs Extra Brut 2002
From the sublime 2002 vintage, the Clos Cazals Grand Cru Blanc De Blancs Extra Brut is fabulous. Suffuse, enveloping notes of apple tartin, toasted hazelnuts, molasses, and creme sherry allude to a wine of serious character. And indeed, it’s taught as a drawn bow, with the sort of tension that is only eased in a […]
Renardat-Fache Alain Bugey Cerdon Fache Rosé Sparkling 2013
My first wine from the Savoie region of France, the 2013 Renardat-Fâche Wine of the Bugey Cerdon Sparkling Rosé is a charming semi-dry, with perky bubbles and lilting, expressive notes of red raspberries and juicy Balaton cherries cradled in a bouquet of heirloom roses . It’s the color of pint taffeta, that’s exactly shade found […]
Laurent Roumier Chambolle-Musigny 2010
The 2010 Laurent Roumier Chambolle-Musigny is perhaps just entering its drinking window, though it is important to note that this is a half bottle. The aromatics are intriguing, and firstly floral. Lilacs and apple blossom give way to seedy raspberries, plum and damp tilth. Perhaps what is most striking are the camphor and mint notes […]
Henri Giraud Champagne Argonne 2004
I found myself seated next to Claude Giraud on the final morning of #IPNC (the International Pinot Noir Celebration). I had interviewed him the day before about his research, which made this bottle all the more special. Precise and ebullient, the very picture of lightness and energy, with the nose and palate conjoined in exquisite harmony. […]
Besson Franck Beaujolais Rose Granit Méthode Traditionnelle 2011
Sourced from 100% 45-year-old Gamay Black vines grown in granitic sand, hence the name, this unique sparkling rosé walks a very fine line between funk and fruit. Ripe strawberries and plump market raspberries are unarthed, once a gets past damp spring soil, that walk through the barn in sodden boots (and yes, I had a […]
Benedicte & Stephane Tissot Poulsard Vieilles Vignes 2012
The nose of this intriguing biodynamically-farmed Jura red is slightly reminiscent of a good Cru Beaujolais, laden with aromas of decaying rose petals, Vietnamese cinnamon, stale pomander ball, and stemmy raspberries, all anchored by a touch of earthy-musky-funk. Benedicte & Stephane Tissot Poulsard Vieilles Vignes 2012 is light-to-medium bodied, slightly rustic and slightly spare, with […]
A. et P. de Villaine Mercurey Les Montots 2011
Domaine de Villaine is owned by none other than Aubert de Villaine, co-owner of that most illustrious estate, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. The little house Villaine is located in Bouzeron, and offers fine quality for money for those looking for a good value. The 2011 is light on fruit, a notoriously difficult vintage, but it […]
Château Calon-Ségur Saint-Estèphe Grand Cru Classé 2000
A Classic Saint-Estèphe, the Calon-Ségur 2000 offers up sumptuous aromas of steeped blackberries, forest floor, wet wood, game, char, asphalt, saddle leather, violets, and brown sugar. The influence of the estate vineyard’s deep gravelly soils is evident in the nose and in a delicate vein of minerality, that sits like filagree atop velvety, caressing tannins. […]
Crêpes with an Oregon Marionberry Reduction Sauce
In another lifetime, I made dozens of crêpes on Friday nights, when throngs of customers would flood my Eastern Washington tasting room to catch live music on the weekends. Since then, I’ve refined the recipe a bit—not the crêpes themselves, rather the toppings. Back then, I used our wineries’ Columbia Valley Cabernet, now I’m more […]
Barons de Rothschild Bordeaux Réserve Spéciale Blanc 2013
2013 was a tough vintage in Bordeaux, Château Lafite Rothschild describes it as the worst vintage in over 30 years, though it is important to note that the whites generally fared better than the reds. Nevertheless, the estate has the pedigree to pull off a good wine in a challenging year, I was favorably impressed […]