Montalcino and the Hunt for Terroir

Marisa D'Vari
Feature Stories
4 min read
“It was the 1995 Soldera [Brunello] that did it,” laughs Jan Hendrik Erbach, co-owner of Pian‘dell Orino in Montalcino with wife Caroline Pobitzer. A rustically attractive man with the charisma of a TV talk show host and the Einstein-like brain of crack geologist, Jan’s passion for terroir is easily conveyed

NV Moulin de Lene “Le Reve de Marie”

Gary Thomas
Wine Reviews
1 min read
A nice vin de pays from a somewhat overlooked area of Languedoc. (If there was a vintage on this either it was invisible or the vintage sticker fell off.) This cab franc exhibits dark purple color, and is somewhat jammy on the nose, with elements of earth and pepper. Solid

A History of Washington Wine

Arianna Armstrong
Features
10 min read
A blue-white stillness, frozen many times over. The soft sweeping and pattering of branches bowing against the ice, as a giant bison scratches against the trunk of a conifer tree. Somewhere, far off, the ice can be heard cracking; struggling to retain its dominance against the disruption of moving, warm

2009 Saint Gregory Pinot Noir

David Honig
Wine Reviews
1 min read
Dark cherries and a touch of mesquite smoke on the nose. Cherries are fresher, more tart, on the palate. Smoke and cola come through on the mid-palate. Acids really drive this wine, searching for a rich fats or gravy to challenge. Drink with bacon-wrapped figs or duck with gravy. Recommended.

2009 St. Urbans-Hof Ockner Bockstein Riesling Spätlese

David Honig
Wine Reviews
1 min read
The nose is very pretty, magnolia flowers and baked apples with a sprinkle of cardamom. Apples and just-fresh white peaches lead on the palate, barely sprinkled with cardamom and freshly grated nutmeg. Light acidity comes in the flavor of sweet Meyer lemon. Off-dry and creamy, this would contrast beautifully with

2007 St. Supery Élu

David Honig
Wine Reviews
1 min read
The nose is full and sweet, with blackberries, boysenberry, and a drop of caramel. The palate is filled with a melange of dark fruit, from deep mulberry to crisp blackberries. A hint of smoke peeks out on the palate, blossoming into a bite of espresso and unsweetened chocolate on the

Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, Old and New

Craig Pinhey
Features
4 min read
One of the most controversial topics about Californian wine—and thus, one of the most widely discussed by wine lovers—is how much Napa Cab has changed over the  years, or whether it has truly been altered. Every time I go to Napa and Sonoma with a group of wine writers, we