Let me not thirst with this Hock at my Lip, Nor beg, with Domains in my pocket – Emily Dickinson The Grenache grape grows in a vast arc around the western Mediterranean — from Spain in the west across the south of France and as far east as Sardinia. This is a chthonic peasant’s vine [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Color'
Sella & Mosca Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva 2006
September 27th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Color, Country, Italy, Red
Tags:
2008 Waters Interlude Columbia Valley
August 25th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Color, Country, Red, United States
Walla Walla. Eastern Washington State — no trees; great brown hills; cold in the winter – hot in the summer. More Steinbeck than Stendhal. Who would think that you could make cabernet — the wine of politesse and great houses — in such a … western setting. But the Walla Walla wines are wonderful: American [...]
Tags:
2008 Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre
August 8th, 2010 · 8 Comments · Color, Country, France, Loire, White
Across northern France, chalk runs in a formation of great depth and age. We can see it at the white sea cliffs at the Channel and, less dramatically, in outcrops and valleys where flowing water has revealed the bones of the land. This great chalk formation runs from England in the west across the heart [...]
Tags:
2007 Les Pallières “Terrasse du Diable”
July 11th, 2010 · No Comments · Color, Country, France, Red
Place names bring us direct word from the past, but rarely as poignantly as Gigondas –the modern name of an ancient wine-making village in the Rhône valley. Its story takes us to the reign of Caesar Augustus and the formation of the Second Legion in the year 43 B.C. Originally raised to fight for Octavian [...]
Tags:
La Mondianese Grignolino d’Asti 2007
May 23rd, 2010 · 2 Comments · Color, Country, Italy, Red, Uncategorized
Here is a wine to rush out for: light, brisk, tart — a beautiful brown-red color. This is a marvelous country wine from the Piedmont. Let’s take care of the pronunciation. The second “g” is silent but contributes a “y” sound as we slide into the second syllable. So, “green – yo – leeno.” [...]
Tags:
Côte de Brouilly Château Thivin 2008
May 9th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Color, Country, France, Red
In France, below Burgundy and above the vast hothouse which is the south during summer, there are 10 storied villages: the crus Beaujolais. These lie in a chain, running north to south along the valley of the Saône. As empires came and went, the Romans, the Visigoths, the Moors and the Franks each took their [...]
Tags:
b.v. Noe Coupage Rioja 2008
April 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Color, Country, Red, Spain
In the thirteenth century, the Spanish priest Gonzalo de Berceo, writing in the Suso monastery in Rioja, chastised the ungenerous in his poem “Signs of the Last Judgment.” Cuando el porbreziello a vuestra puerta vino Pidiendo en mi nombre con ábito mesquino Vos dar noli quiesiestes nin del [...]
Tags:
2007 Winderlea Estate Pinot Noir
April 5th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Color, Red, United States
2007 Winderlea Estate Pinot Noir. Here is a beautiful pinot noir, quite innocent of any history. A vineyard created in 2006. Formerly a province of the Goldschmidt Winery which claims 16 years of experience on its website. Can we set aside this carping suspicion of the arriviste and just try the wine? Why not. This [...]
Tags:
2007 Parés Baltà “Mas Petit”
March 21st, 2010 · No Comments · Color, Country, Red, Spain
Here is a cabernet on holiday. Parés Baltà “Mas Petit” 2007 from the Penedès region a few miles southwest of Barcelona. The wine is a blend: primarily cabernet with 16 % Grenacha. This is cabernet which has escaped the more formal restraints of the Bordeaux expression. The taste is pink cherry, a little candied, [...]
Tags:
Massolino Barbera d’Alba 2008
February 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Color, Country, Italy, Piedmont, Red
The Barbera grape is the reliable workhorse of the Piedmont vineyards. It is easy to grow (easy for us anyway, sitting down with a glass already poured) and its principal vice is a tendency to produce so much fruit that it can lose intensity. But kept in check with pruning and planted in chalky [...]
Tags: