To the extent that you think about Italian sparkling wine, if you think about it at all, you are probably most familiar with the...
Wine Review Online | Columns
Burgundy Update: Tiny 2012 Yields Presage a Pricey Future
“The most expensive vintage ever,” was how Louis-Fabrice Latour, President of the prestigious Beaune-based...
Concha y Toro: King of Chilean Wine Producers
Just as Gallo is the U.S.’s dominant wine firm, Moët & Chandon is Champagne’s icon, and Baron Philippe de...
A Vinous Reality Check and a Life Lesson from the 16th Century
Andrea Contucci lives in a home his great-great-grandfather's great-great-grandfather thought was old. Amazingly, he also...
Sicily: Hotbed of Italian Innovation
Winemakers in Sicily bubble with enthusiasm and a sense of discovery the way Etna bubbles with lava and smoke. Three...
Grower Champagnes
The Institute of Masters of Wine recently did its annual gigantic Champagne tasting in New York (with San Francisco coming up)...
All’s Well that Ends Well: Barolo from 2008
Nebbiolo’s astonishing winning streak in Piedmont remains unbroken. If you wonder whether I’m engaging in hype...
Recollecting Livermore Valley
It's amazing how easy it is, when talking about top California wine regions, to forget about Livermore Valley. It's not like...
Charles Heidsieck: World’s Most Underrated Champagne
One year after he founded his Champagne house in 1851, 29-year-old Charles-Camille Heidsieck took the unusual step, at that...
Good Dirt, Yucky Dirt
As I drive around Alexander Valley with Ronald Du Preez, the assistant winemaker at Jordan Winery, he points across the road and...
Ten Tips for De-Stressing Wine
We're now at the very height of summer, and during summertime living is supposed to be--according to a famous song--easy. ...
Negroamaro: Black & Bitter from Italy’s Heel
“Black and bitter.” It certainly wasn’t a name create by a public relations firm. To be fair,...