Download this August Newsletter Segment Katharina Wechsler | Rheinhessen 2023 Dry Riesling Crus Delayed by general disruptions and tariff-stalled markets over the last year, the 2023 vintage of Katharina Wechsler’s dry Rieslings crus was well worth the wait. While 2021 seemed like effortless fine wine, sleek, precise, tensile and mineral for days, and 2022 exceeded every expectation for a warm...[ read more ]
Newsletter January 2026 Pruning in Les Damodes, December 2025 Here I am once again with a kind of perverse optimism at the start of a new year, even as things feel dire—especially when the feeds read like Mad Magazine comic strips playing out in real-life U.S. governance. I must be one of the most optimistic U.S. wine importers going into...[ read more ]
(Download complete pdf here) An ancient Vihno Verde vine used for Constantino Ramos’ JUCA tinto “Please send me some good news, buddy!” This was our Barbaresco producer Dave Fletcher’s response to a market update email sent to our growers, one that outlined some potential pitfalls we might experience in 2025. In the face of recent surreal events, the concept of...[ read more ]
29 August, Ponte de Lima I was afraid the details of my summer trip would begin to fade after I wrote my last entry two months ago, but the best memories are still vivid; I can already tell that the impression of certain moments will be lasting, even if they get fuzzier with time. I seem to have a mental...[ read more ]
That question again... Is it possible by taste to assess what type of bedrock and soil a wine comes from? I am aware that extensive, abstract or technical wine writing doesn’t usually sell wine, but I don’t care. I view short, oversimplified marketing strategies with catchy, punchy and clever comic book-style writing too short and shallow, word salads that don’t...[ read more ]
What is dry-farming? We asked our friend, Ryan Stirm @stirmwineco, a viticulturalist, soil scientist and winemaker. “Dry-farming is the practice of farming without the use of supplemental irrigation— relying completely on the rainfall (and subterranean water) that occurs on the plot of land being farmed. Drip irrigation as we know it was invented and developed in Israel in the 1960's...[ read more ]
