Loire Noir: On Pinot, Cab Franc, and Gamay

Roger Morris
Feature Stories
4 min read
There’s a predictable scenario that takes place on about every foreign press trip I attend.  Sometime over dessert during the farewell dinner, the host asks everyone to provide our thoughts on: “What is happening in the American wine (or spirits) market, and what can I do to get a bigger

Puttin’ on the Spritz

Michelle Locke
Features
2 min read
What do you drink when you’re sitting on the Sound of Music lakeside terrace?  An Aperol spritz, naturally. At least, that’s what I drank when I visited Salzburg recently, channeling Baroness Schraeder for all I was worth. (Sorry, Maria fans, I’m not really a tea-with-jam-and-bread kind of girl.) Turns out

Remembering Denis Dubourdieu

Becky Sue Epstein
Feature Stories
1 min read
While it was not entirely unexpected, the recent death of Bordeaux’s great wine analyst Denis Dubourdieu of brain cancer at the age of 67 is a tragedy. I can only claim to have known him slightly from annual encounters in Bordeaux, but I valued every connection with this passionate and

This Old Château

Roger Morris
Features
8 min read
“The neighborhood is certainly right,” the buyer must have thought. “Those rich Rothschild cousins live just a few vine rows away, over on the other side of D2.  And the Tesserons at Pontet-Canet seem like good people, even though they have just recently moved here – well, 40 years ago

Saving Sylvaner

W. Blake Gray
Features
4 min read
Wine lovers, let's help save a grape. It's not quite on its last legs, but it's misunderstood, and our obsession with ratings and blind tasting is partly to blame. The grape is Sylvaner. A century ago it was the most-planted grape in both Alsace and Germany. It's one of the