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The Gift of Great Spirits for the Holidays
The Gift of Great Spirits for the Holidays
“LHERAUD COGNAC V.S.O.P. AOC Petite Champagne -- It has become a rare thing to find a Cognac blended from the three grapes that by tradition made the brandy special--Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard--after the last two suffered from vine diseases. Lheraud's is still made from all three varietals, aged for five years in Limousin and Tronçais oak barrels, first young ones, then older, and the nuances are significant. Lheraud also makes a V.S. aged for three years and a Cuvée 10 that spends a decade in wood.” To read more, click here.
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Report #53: American Sparkling Wine
Report #53: American Sparkling Wine
Introduction"North American sparkling wine has come of age. Many skilled winemakers are producing elegant sparkling wines inspired by the rich fruit of the New World. These wines are not easy to make. They require extensive experience on the part of the winemaker, who must make numerous critical decisions that affect the quality of the final product. In this, our 53rd report, we examine the state of North American sparkling wine and evaluate the best sparkling wines made today in such disparate locations as New York’s Finger Lakes, Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula, New Mexico’s 4300’ high mountain plateau, Santa Barbara’s Sta. Rita...
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New Tasting Notes: Kumeu River Mate’s Chardonnay
New Tasting Notes: Kumeu River Mate’s Chardonnay
“A website subscriber complained that I had no tasting notes for several recent vintages of Kumeu River Mate’s Chardonnay, a wine on which I recently conferred cult status. I’m guilty as charged, but I explained that Kumeu River doesn’t send out samples (to me at least) preferring to introduce their newly released wines to wine scribes at an annual lunch which I am seldom able to attend. “I do, however, regularly taste Kumeu River’s full range of Chardonnays when I visit the winery as part of my five-week Auckland course. I’m also a good friend of winemaker Michael Brajkovich, New...
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Spoon Service in Vegas
Spoon Service in Vegas
"You've heard of bottle service, but spoon service? Yes, that's what's going on in Las Vegas right now. Top customers are being spoon-fed Essencla by Royal Tokaji on a hand-crafted crystal spoon. Essencia, the world's oldest dessert wine, is made only in select years in the Tokaj region of northeastern Hungary. Essencia takes six to eight years to ferment into wine. ln Las Vegas, Adem Sash, Director of Wine at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House, presents a crystal spoonful of Essencia accompanied by market-fresh berries dusted with sugar to add a note of color to the plate. He has...
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For Cognac, China’s Loss Is America’s Gain
For Cognac, China’s Loss Is America’s Gain
Rare Offerings "François Rebel, export manager of Cognac Lhéraud, has visited China a half dozen times this year and observed the Cognac market stirring again as the anti-luxury crackdown eases. Lhéraud was absent from the United States for six years until St. Helena, California–based Wilson Daniels Ltd. began importing the brand in 2014. Some expressions like Lhéraud Carafe Eve, which is made from 1934 stocks, have yet to arrive in the United States, but Rebel is optimistic about the brand’s future. 'The big four or five brands create demand in the marketplace,' he says. 'Smaller guys like us can occupy...
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Tokaji Aszu Wines Are a Taste of Hungarian Sweetness
Tokaji Aszu Wines Are a Taste of Hungarian Sweetness
"It’s not that I don’t enjoy cocktails, or after-dinner Cognacs and brandies, or the entire wonderful array of spirits (of which I particularly prize great mezcal and Islay single malt). But as I have become firmly ensconced in middle age, I find myself all too aware of what Len Evans, the Australian impresario, used to call his Theory of Capacity. "According to Mr. Evans, as we age we become acutely conscious of our finite capacity to enjoy the world’s wonderful wines. By that calculation, no space or time can be wasted on bad bottles. "By extension, our limited capacity for...
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A Return to Cork
A Return to Cork
“Ten years ago, Michel Laroche, then majority owner of Domaine Laroche in Chablis, made the decision to bottle his entire range of wines, including premiers and grands crus, with screwcaps. "’As winemakers, we try to avoid oxidation,’ Laroche said at the time. ‘Even without TCA [the chemical that can produce moldy flavors via tainted corks], a cork is not neutral. With a fresh, delicate style of wine like Chablis, the cork marks it quickly, like a little spot on a white shirt.’ “Laroche had armed himself with research from Australia, a pioneer in the use of screwcap closures, in addition...
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Visiting with Valter Fissore
Visiting with Valter Fissore
“In March I went to Vinitaly (the wine fair in Verona) for the first time in 7 years with Nicole and Travis, friends who own a wine store in NYC. They had never been there and wanted to visit a number of producers whose wines they carry in their store. On the top of the list was Valter Fissore of the Elvio Cogno winery. “When we arrived at the Cogno booth we were greeted by Valter and his wife Nadia (Elvio Cogno’s daughter). We tasted a number of wines including the very rare pre-philloxera Barbera. We had a very enjoyable...
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The Dine, Wine and Spirits Show | Interview with Hugh Davies
The Dine, Wine and Spirits Show | Interview with Hugh Davies
Tim McNally, host of The Dine, Wine and Spirits show on WGSO 990AM (New Orleans) interviewed Hugh Davies on November 24, 2015. In the interview, Hugh discusses the 50th Anniversary of the craft sparkling wine producer and the developments that have occurred since Jack and Jamie Davies first began the venture in 1965, particularly the intensive vineyard site exploration in the Napa Valley and throughout the North Coast as well as the story behind the Davies Vineyards still wine program. During the broadcast, Tim tastes the 2007 J. Schram Rosé and the Davies Vineyards 2012 Pinot Noir, Nobles Vineyard (clip...
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Three Sources for Exemplary New World Chardonnay
Three Sources for Exemplary New World Chardonnay
“This has been a year of discovery, but then every year, every day, I learn something new about wine. I was particularly excited to discover--or, in one case, rediscover--three glorious New World Chardonnays. All three are produced by wineries whose founders have been pioneers in their regions and prescient, as well as persistent (you might even say dogged), in their pursuit of exceptional examples of a wine that can be quite trivial. I was introduced to the Chardonnays of Kumeu River Wine of New Zealand and Vasse Felix of Margaret River (from Western Australia), and got reacquainted with Stony Hill...
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