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 year with charming and substantial density and remains criminally underrated, the 2023 takes...[ read more ]

Domaine Jean Collet et Fils hasn’t changed their US labels for about fifty years. When I presented the “new labels” used in the French market as a possible switch in the US, our team responded positively, and some others thought customers might think of the vintage-style rebranding as contrived. But these are the labels Collet used in the early 1900s;...[ read more ]

With the rise of organic and biodynamic viticulture over the last half century and their becoming commonplace throughout the world in wine-focused restaurants and wine shops, the forever controversial natural wine movement was as inevitable as it was necessary. Like its viticultural forbears, and despite its ingrained provocation of many 20th-century traditionalist winegrower views, the emergence of natural wine continues...[ read more ]

This month Giovanna Bagnasco from Agricola Brandini will be showcasing their 2021 Barolo single crus in the US. As mentioned in this year’s February newsletter, we’ve waited for this vintage since we started our collaboration at the beginning of 2022. The sisters already nailed the 2019 and 2020 versions, but 2021 should top them when one considers Nebbiolo classicism, and...[ read more ]