burgundies
NEW WINES TO CONSIDER AS WE RAPIDLY APPROACH THE END OF THE YEAR
I am always looking for new and different wines. These range from obscure “Under the Radar” wines to the latest Burgundy vintage and other wines tasted from barrel. Around the year end holidays is always a time to relax and enjoy life. That includes time with family and friends and food and wine. So as […]
Click here to read entire article »BE THE MASTER OF YOUR DOMAIN!
I once read that a famous singer said that the only wine he drank was Romanée Conti. Now, I have no idea if he meant the vineyard or the Domaine. And, there is a difference. One is the top-rated vineyard in Burgundy that produces only about 400 cases in an average year. Romanée Conti has produced great wines over a very long period of time and sells at a great premium to other Burgundies (currently about $3-5,000 a bottle for recent vintages).
Click here to read entire article »ALONG THE BURGUNDY TRAIL – OCTOBER 2011
I just returned from Burgundy where I tasted 2010 wines from barrel as well as some 2009s and older wines from bottle. I was accompanied by my friends and contributing editors, Geoffrey Troy and John Brincko. Geoffrey has been with me on the trip since our first visit in 1981 along with my friend and […]
Click here to read entire article »OBSERVATIONS ON 1978 WINES
On Saturday I took a bottle of ’78 DRC Montrachet to Providence, the fish restaurant in Los Angeles. It was in great shape and had the same intense yellow color of a recently tasted, still youthful and backward, 2002 Coche Dury Les Caillerets. The DRC is full bodied, with great intensity, complexity, mouthfilling flavors and perfect balance.
Click here to read entire article »Retrospective Review: Volume II, Number 2 (October-November, 1980)
We are currently reproducing a copy of Volume II, Number 2 of The Underground Wineletter. Below you’ll find an updated review of each article, where I will go over what we got right and what we got wrong. We will follow this format with each successive issue. So Volume II, Number 3 will be coming […]
Click here to read entire article »A LEGENDARY WHITE BURGUNDY AND TWO OF THE GREATEST EVER CALIFORNIA PINOT NOIRS
I recently wrote an article including tasting notes on a trade tasting of California Pinot Noirs “In Pursuit Of Balance.” It was held at RN74 in San Francisco. The purpose was to showcase California Pinot Noirs that are balanced and not overly extracted and alcoholic. It was a great success. And, if you did not see my article, please take a look under Trade Tastings.
Click here to read entire article »THE OLD BURGUNDIANS
A few years ago, my friends and contributing editors, Edward Lazarus and John Brincko, and I, along with John’s wife, Debbie, and my wife, Laurie, decided to form a group dedicated to drinking old Burgundies from our cellars. We named the group The Old Burgundians, not because of our ages, but because of the old Burgundies that would be our focus.
Click here to read entire article »One New Star Producer For White And Red Burgundy, Revisiting An Old Favorite Producer For Affordable White and Red Burgundy, And Trying To Get Back A Best In Class Rosé
One New Star Producer For White And Red Burgundy, Revisiting An Old Favorite Producer For Affordable White and Red Burgundy, And Trying To Get Back A Best In Class Rose
Click here to read entire article »TIME TO GET INTO BEAUJOLAIS!
For some time I have been posting reviews of 2009 Beaujolais. And I will have a few more as the last of the wines arrive in the next month or so. However, I cannot emphasize enough how Cru Beaujolais is one of the most under appreciated wines in the world.
Click here to read entire article »Retrospective Review: Volume 1, Number 6 (June-July, 1980)
With Volume I, Number 6 in June-July 1980, we ended our first year of publication. My lead editorial was a glimpse of things to come and was titled “It’s Our Anniversary! But The Best Is Yet To Come!” In it I talked about the launch of our barrels and bottles feature which would review wines in barrel and bottle before they were released for sale. The idea which was to prove to be the wave of the future was “to evaluate some of the best wines before they begin their way through the retail trade.” I stated our intention to focus on fine wines exclusively – Chardonnay, Cabernet both old and new and other California wines such as Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Gewurztraminer, and also Vintage Ports. And French wines, 1978 Burgundies, 1978 Bordeaux and Sauternes, plus older Bordeaux vintage reviews 1970, 1966, 1961, 1928 and 1929 and a review of Chateau Petrus from 1920-1976. These reviews of older vintages were timely because the older wines were readily available at auctions in England and then through wine merchants in Europe and the U.S. And, it is important to remember, that this was before the plague of wine fraud was to rear its ugly head!
Click here to read entire article »
