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James Suckling

Syrah Splendor

I wonder if Cortona will one day become the Côte-Rôtie of Italy? Will it become one of the best places on earth to grow Syrah?

It already has a head start. And it’s made some excellent Syrahs already.

One of the best Italian Syrahs I ever tasted (drunk too!) was the Tenimenti Luigi d'Alessandro Syrah Toscana Podere Il Bosco 1997. Read more


James Laube

Lust for the Must: A Different Take on 2006 Pinots

Today is a share day, with me passing along a note from a winemaker, Wes Hagen at Clos Pepe, who once wanted to be a writer, and once you read this, perhaps you’ll understand why.

It’s a bit of a contrarian view on the vintage, from my perspective, but this is offered in the spirit of sharing from a die-hard Pinot lover. Read more


Richard Betts

Three Days

“At this moment you should be with us / feeling like we do, like we love to, and I will again….” — Perry Farrell, Jane’s Addiction

This comes to mind over and over as I consider three recent days strung together over two coasts and fueled largely by too much great wine, good friends and fun. Read more


James Laube

Final Thoughts on Cork Taint

Cork taint can be a can of worms.

Several readers have accurately addressed most of the questions posed here since Friday's blog entry, "Corks Worse Problem as Price Increases."

Daniel points out that Wine Spectator has covered cork-related issues extensively, not only in the context of TCA-infected corks, but also about instances of entire wineries having been affected. Read more


James Suckling

A Brunello Producer Makes a Brave Decision

I spoke to the commercial director of Argiano this morning, the well-known producer of Brunello di Montalcino, and he told me that they decided to declassify most of their 2003 Brunello di Montalcino production. (Argiano is one of a handful of well-known wineries whose production of Brunello has been sequestered by local magistrates, as reported here on April 3. Read more


James Laube

Corks Worse Problem as Price Increases

We re-crunched the numbers and percentages of corked wines by wine price range and, based on our limited samplings, it’s actually worse than we thought.

Yesterday’s blog was intended to simply look at corked wines across price points, using the assumption that expensive wines have more expensive corks and inexpensive wines use cheaper corks. Read more


Harvey Steiman

Glenn and the Lafite

The e-mail asked for the usual advice. Glenn, the thirty-something son of an old friend who passed away a few years ago, had been given a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild 1985. His e-mail said that he would be celebrating his birthday the next day and wondered what he should eat with the Lafite. Read more


Maynard Keenan

Vino Las Vegas: The Long Version of a Short Story

Alex Stratta, of Wynn's Alex Restaurant, asked to include my and Eric Glomski's wines (the 2007 Arizona Stronghold Vineyards Tazi and the 2005 Caduceus Naga and Sensei) for a wine dinner in May. I, of course, said yes, and then requested that he make good on his promise to let me work in the kitchen for a while prior to the event. Read more


James Laube

Price of Corks Doesn't Guarantee Superior Quality

In conversations about corks with winemakers, one refrain I often hear is that if a winery buys more expensive corks, it gets superior quality.

I’ve also heard from winemakers, and cork manufacturers, that the incidence of TCA-tainted corks (which impart a musty, moldy flavor to wine) is just as high for the most expensive corks as for the least expensive. Read more


James Molesworth

3:1, Burgundy to Rhône

Those who know me know that I, like my colleague Bruce Sanderson, was weaned on Burgundy. It was the region that I tasted in depth before I even realized I had a career in the wine business. It’s had a soft spot in my heart ever since.

It also still holds a prominent place in my cellar, as I continue to buy the wines of a few producers—Dominique Laurent, Marquis d’Angerville, François Raveneau, Louis Carillon. Read more


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