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April 2007
Steak and Blockbuster Tintos
Posted: 11:32 AM ET, May 04, 2007
Tuscans need steak; that’s all there is to it. Florentine vintner Lamberto Frescobaldi was in Los Angeles at the same time I was before heading off for Las Vegas for the Grand Tour, so I told him we should pick up a rib eye with the bone at one of my favorites in La La, Carlito’s Gardel, the Argentinean restaurant on Melrose. Read more
Touring the Grand Tour
Posted: 01:20 PM ET, April 30, 2007
A cute, petite blonde was staring at me at the Grand Tour in Atlantic City. She obviously wanted to say something to me but felt embarrassed, so I walked over and said hello.
“Hi,” I said to her. “You having fun tonight?”
“How do you figure out what to taste here?” she asked with a pretty smile. Read more
Sassicaia Legends
Posted: 06:15 PM ET, April 27, 2007
I am in New York, on the way to the Grand Tour in Atlantic City on Saturday, but I am thinking about an amazing dinner I was lucky enough to attend at a friend’s house in London. Canadian Philip Renaud is a big time wine lover, with an extensive cellar, and he is a great lover of Sassicaia, the blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from the Tuscan costal area of Bolgheri. Read more
Conseillante's Subtle Seduction
Posted: 11:51 AM ET, April 25, 2007
I am breathing Pomerol at the moment. I went to a dinner and tasting of La Conseillante last night in London put on by wine merchants Farr Vintners, and I was really impressed. I have to say that I have always liked La Conseillante, but it has never really turned me on that much. Read more
Right Bank Supernova
Posted: 12:58 PM ET, April 24, 2007
I was lucky enough to drink -- not taste -- a number of other impressive wines during my 2006 barrel tasting marathon in Bordeaux about a month ago, besides the 1961 L’Église-Clinet that I blogged about yesterday.
Two of the wines that left a real impression were a 1950 La Fleur-Pétrus and 1950 Canon-La Gaffelière. Read more
Great Wines With No New Barrels
Posted: 12:04 PM ET, April 23, 2007
I was looking through one of my notebooks this morning for something. It was the same set of notes that I took during my trip to Bordeaux this spring to taste 2006 from barrel. And I saw written down on one of the pages: "You don’t need new barrels to make great wine. Read more
Pinot Grigio? Si, Grazie!
Posted: 05:46 PM ET, April 20, 2007
I had a quick pasta carbonara with my children tonight, Jack and Isabel. They are over in Tuscany for spring break from England. And I popped the cork on a 2005 Schiopetto Collio Pinot Grigio to go with the pasta. The wine is so beautiful with melon, pie crust and citrus character on the nose and palate. Read more
Luxury Timepieces and Luxury 1982 Claret
Posted: 12:38 PM ET, April 18, 2007
I just received an e-mail from a London wine merchant, offering a nice selection of cases of trophy 1982 Bordeaux—Latour, $25,680; Mouton, $17,200; Lafite, $30,060; Margaux, $16,050; and Haut-Brion, $11,500.
Sounds expensive to me. Read more
Memories of Vintage Port
Posted: 05:30 PM ET, April 13, 2007
Just had the last glass of a decanter of 1963 Cockburn. Yummy. After three days, it was still fresh and sweet with lovely cherry and crushed berry character. I think it was best, though, just after I decanted it and served it to Giacomo Neri of Casanova di Neri and Vicenzo Abbruzzese of Valdicava, the two 100-point Brunello makers. Read more
Believing in 2006
Posted: 11:11 AM ET, April 12, 2007
I just heard from a wine merchant friend that some people in the wine trade who deal in Bordeaux said that 2006 is much better than I have reported, and that a least 20 wines are even better than their 2005 counterparts. They say that 2006 is another great year, especially for the top estates of the Médoc and a number of Right Bank ones. Read more
Do We Want These Wines?
Posted: 11:44 AM ET, April 11, 2007
I have tasted about 150 Bordeaux from 2004 in the last couple of days, in between writing stories and various other things. And I am pleasantly surprised with the wines. These are not the big names, or trophy labels, that auction houses, merchants and, yes, wine writers all coo about. Read more
Fill in the Blank?
Posted: 04:26 AM ET, April 10, 2007
Someone with the moniker "Old_Winyards" posted the following on the Wine Spectator Online Forums:
*** START BORDEAUX AVERAGE VINTAGE REPORT TEMPLATE ***
Average vintage, but weather caused some inconsistency throughout. Read more
Against the Odds
Posted: 10:37 AM ET, April 09, 2007
I tasted about 50 Right Bank wines from 2004 over Easter weekend. There are always more wines to taste, and I want to bring you the most up-to-date information I can on what’s out there in my designated areas for tasting. I think in the last three weeks I have tasted more than 1,100 wines. Read more
Tuscany via Burgundy, and Not on a Harley
Posted: 01:32 PM ET, April 05, 2007
Just got back from hanging out at Laurent Ponsot's cellar in Morey Saint Denis. Ponsot is a cool dude. He was getting ready to leave over the weekend for Santa Rosa, California, to begin an across-the-US road trip on a Harley with his wife.
“The best Pinot Noir is made outside of Burgundy,” he said while we tasted. Read more
The End of the Party
Posted: 04:29 AM ET, April 04, 2007
I went to a lively birthday party last night at a small restaurant in the village of St. Julien-Beychevelle for LA wine merchant Steve Wallace. They had taken over the restaurant and it was full of wine producers, merchants and friends. The barbeque was roaring outside. Read more
Right Place, Right Time, Right Wine
Posted: 12:39 PM ET, April 03, 2007
Let’s not forget Sauternes. I tasted about two dozen samples of 2006 Sauternes and Barsacs at the offices of the well-respected négociant Joanne. The company had a half-dozen or so individual tasting rooms for customers from around the world which were extremely well-equipped with tasting glasses and samples. Read more
Some Thoughts on 2006 Bordeaux
Posted: 01:23 PM ET, April 02, 2007
Today I was walking along a small road in front of the vineyards of Lafleur in Pomerol, munching on a sandwich for lunch after tasting about 30 wines in various châteaus on the right bank, and I started to think about something Alexandre Thienpont said to me as I was tasting his 2006 Vieux-Château-Certan. Read more
No Words Are Just for This Wine!
Posted: 04:38 AM ET, April 01, 2007
It’s been a long week tasting in Bordeaux. The tannins of the 2006s are very strong. Most are slightly austere due to their being slightly unripe or overextracted. However, the best wines of the vintage have managed to maintain ripeness in their tannins, giving them a silky texture and light sweetness of fruit on the end. Read more
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