Articles by
John Tilson
NEW RELEASES FROM DOMAINE-SAUMAIZE MICHELIN
GREAT VALUES IN WHITE BURGUNDY Christine and Roger Saumaize-Michelin As I have said before, this Domaine is on a roll and making consistently wonderful White Burgundies at affordable prices. Located in Vergisson just south of Mâcon in Southern Burgundy, Roger and Christine Saumaize took over this domaine in 1978. They make numerous vineyard designated […]
Click here to read entire article »TABLAS CREEK VINEYARD: FIVE OUTSTANDING NEW RELEASES
The new releases from Tablas Creek Vineyard include 3 white wines from the 2015 vintage, 1 white wine from the 2014 vintage, and 1 red wine from the 2014 vintage. As usual the wines are really lovely and very good values. Tablas Creek Vineyard continues to produce amazingly good and very consistent wines. And, […]
Click here to read entire article »OUTSTANDING OLD MARSANNAY ROSÉS
I have always maintained that rosés do not have to be consumed the first year they are offered for sale. Many can be kept for years and many improve with additional age (to read an article on this subject click here). This allows for buying rosés and keeping them for some years and also […]
Click here to read entire article »PEOPLE AND WINE AGING TOGETHER
What is the correlation? Well, the fact is that people have varying life spans as do wines. Most people understand their aging process, but very few people understand the aging process of wines. In reality, most people could care less about how wines age. This creates a tremendous opportunity for those of us who love […]
Click here to read entire article »A MONTE BELLO TOAST TO PAUL DRAPER
A LEGEND IN HIS TIME Paul Draper, the winemaker and CEO of Ridge Vineyards for nearly 50 years, recently announced his retirement. In my mind Paul was the California wine industry’s guiding force in continuing traditional wine making practices and making consistently great wines during his entire career at Ridge Vineyards. The history of Ridge […]
Click here to read entire article »ALCHEMY?…ANOTHER REASON FOR INGREDIENT LABELING?
In an article by James Duren entitled “Bye Bye Oak Barrel: Spanish Sleuths Discover Aroma Yeast” yet another case was made by researchers to put more additives in wine. Take a look: It may be the smallest of elements which have the biggest impact on flavor. A team of researchers from the Polytechnic University of […]
Click here to read entire article »OLD RIDGE VINEYARDS MONTE BELLO CABERNETS
In my most recent Ridge Vineyards article (click here to read the article on Spring releases and links to all other Ridge Vineyards articles) I said that I would soon be writing about some recent tastings of old Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignons. And, as I have mentioned many times over the years, the […]
Click here to read entire article »MORE 2015 ROSÉS
The beginning of summer is just around the corner and the 2015 rosé season is now in full swing. As I do every year, I have been happily tasting and drinking my way through a wide assortment of new rosés. Here is what I had to say in my first article on 2015 rosés: […]
Click here to read entire article »CALERA – LATEST RELEASES
My history with Calera goes back some 35 years when I first visited the new winery and tasted the first wines from the 1978 vintage. Since then I have followed their remarkable progress (to read my latest article based on my August 2015 visit including new and old wines and links to earlier articles click […]
Click here to read entire article »THE PERILS OF FARMING – MOTHER NATURE DEVESTATES BURGUNDY
During the week of April 25 a devastating cold weather system and frost ravaged Burgundy. Below is a report from Alex Gambal. Alex Gambal is an American who went to Burgundy and, literally starting from scratch, has been able to establish a thriving business in less than 20 years (to read more about Alex […]
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