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Outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay: New Releases from Presqu’ile Winery
Outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay: New Releases from Presqu’ile Winery
“Presqu’ile Winery in Santa Maria is producing some of Santa Barbara County’s finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, as revealed in their new releases reviewed here. “When we last visited the winery it was still under construction. However, Matt Murphy and winemaker Dieter Cronje guided us through the construction site and then showed us the wines from their third vintage (2010). Our enthusiasm for the wines is evident in our tasting notes in our report on The Wines of Santa Barbara. Presqu’ile recently sent us their latest releases, from the 2012 vintage, which we review below. “The Murphy Family purchased their...
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2011 — Another fine vintage for Barolo?
2011 — Another fine vintage for Barolo?
“Equally diverse are the opinions on which previous vintage the 2011 most resembles, a telltale sign of how irregular the weather has been. Talk of climate change has become a permanent fixture in the Langhe hills. I initially thought 2011 may have some kinship with the equally hot 2009, but the wines I have tasted so far were less marked by heat than many of the 2009s. Extreme heat is often translated into burning alcohol and jammy or stewed fruit (one reason I am always suspicious when people rave about the 'typical' aromas of dried fruit in young Barolo). “After...
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Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year
Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year
"When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, wine-writer Hugh Johnson fulfilled a dream he'd long had: to help restore Tokaj's wine industry to its former glory. He assembled a team of investors and launched Royal Tokaji Wine Company in 1990, the first foreign-owned wine company in the region. "They set out to revive the vineyards, which, under Communism, had been farmed for quantity more than quality. Using the classification maps created in the 1700s as a guide, the team bought a parcel of the Mezes Maly vineyard, a loess slope southeast of Mad that was classified as a great...
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Nebbiolo Reexamined: Barolo fashioned by the vine
Nebbiolo Reexamined: Barolo fashioned by the vine
"In the late 1950s and '60s, a number of growers in Barolo began bottling their own wines, and what were once small family farms became commercial wineries. In the process, many of the growers began replacing their old vines with more productive clonal selections of nebbiolo. As it turns out, however when growers speak of nebbiolo it is not necessarily one variety, but several distinct subvarieties. 'Traditionally, the subvarieties were mixes,' says Roberto Conterno of Giacomo Conterno winery in Monforte d'Alba. 'A vineyard would consist mostly of lampia, with maybe a portion of michet to boost the quality and a...
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Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year
Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year
"Before immigrating to New Zealand, the Brajkovich family grew grapes and made wine in Zivogosce, a small village in the south of Croatia, close to the Adriatic coast. In 1937 they settled in Kumeu, a region at the northern tip of New Zealand's North Island known as the fruit bowl of Auckland. After working in agriculture for a few years, Mick Brajkovich and his family saved up enough to purchase some land, launching a winery they called San Marino Vineyards. "After Brajkovich died in 1949, his son Mate took over with his wife Melba, and they continued to build the...
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Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year
Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of the Year
"Elvio Cogno worked many vintages at Cogno-Marcarini in La Morra before leaving in 1990 to establish his own domaine. He purchased an 18th-century manor house atop Bricco Ravera in Novello, one of Barolo's lesser-known communes, surrounded by 27 acres of vineyards. His son-in-law, Valter Fissore, had worked with Cogno since 1984 and has since become winemaker for the family's domaine, continuing Cogno's practice of working only with traditional varieties and crafting elegant, ageworthy wines. "The estate's vineyards include blocks of old vines: the lampia and michet clones of nebbiolo, as well as nebbiolo rose, now believed to be a separate...
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Around the world in 80 Bubbles
Around the world in 80 Bubbles
"Explore the modern world of sparkling wine with these stellar recommendations for the holiday. "When Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg went 'round the world, he undoubtedly celebrated his return with Champagne. Being a good British gentleman, this would have been his sparkling wine of choice. While there were sparkling wines from the rest of France around -- the wines of Limoux have an even more illustrious history -- England was the largest market for champagne in the 19th century. "Champagne may still be the finest sparkling wine in the world, but other regions and countries have narrowed the quality gap. In...
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Roger Jones finds damaging frost and elegant wines at New Zealand’s Kumeu River Winery
Roger Jones finds damaging frost and elegant wines at New Zealand’s Kumeu River Winery
"Based in the Kumeu wine region some 30 minutes from Auckland, this world renown Chardonnay producer was hit by frost over the weekend which destroyed part of one of their vineyards. A freak overnight change in temperature gave no warning so it had not hired the usual helicopters to protect the vines. "Inspecting the vineyard this afternoon it was quite noticeable how a few feet in elevation can make a difference, with the outlying vines being slightly higher and therefore were frost free, but the lowest areas were ruined and these vines will be out of action till 2016. This...
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Vintage 2014
Vintage 2014
"If there's one sure sign of autumn in full swing for the wine trade, it's the influx of vintage reports hitting inboxes. Here are a few snippets of what we've heard, quite literally, on the grapevine. "...In Chablis, spirits are high for the prospects of 2014. 'The skin is pale yellow, which shows the ripeness without excess, with thick, ripe skins. Health conditions was so good that sorting was carried on only to remove leaves. The juice has a remarkable balance, with nice acidity, without too much malic acid,' says Gregory Viennois of Domaine Laroche. The ripening season was extended...
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US 2014 Vintage – early, fast, eventful
US 2014 Vintage – early, fast, eventful
“It has become my habit each year to check in with winemakers across the United States as harvest concludes in order to get a sense of the vintage as a whole. Without fail, the assessments I receive from the far-flung winegrowing regions of the country generally sound like descriptions of something completely different from what we have experienced here in California. If nothing else, these reports serve as an excellent reminder of the dangers of generalizing about the character of any one harvest, especially in a country as large as America.” Santa Barbara County, California“Further south, the drought was just...
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