Exploring Niepoort’s Portuguese dry wine, their love of indigenous grapes, and the future of a wine powerhouse. Mention Portuguese wine, and most enthusiasts today will nod knowingly — Vinho Verde for crisp whites, Alentejo for bold reds, Dão and…
What happens when you mix philosophy with farming? You get Johan Reyneke — one of South Africa’s true pioneers in organic and biodynamic viticulture. In my latest YouTube interview, I sit down with Johan in Montreal to talk about…
Let’s be honest—wine terminology can be confusing. In fact, some wine vocabulary is so esoteric and contensious that even connoisseurs argue about its meaning. Whether you’re new to wine or just faking your way through tastings, you’re not alone.…
Twenty years ago, when I first started out in the wine trade, organic wines were a rare find. In viticulture classes, I was taught the importance of regular chemical fungicide spraying regimes. Vines were carefully tended to pristine, bare…
How to choose sparkling wines for the holidays in 2024? Every year I get asked for my top picks. Happily, over the past couple of months, I have tasted a wide range of great sparkling wines, at all price…
Nearly a decade in the making, the Pouilly-Loché and Pouilly-Vinzelles Premier Cru terroirs are finally approved. From the 2024 vintage onwards, four climats can proudly bear the 1er Cru mention on their labels. In an exciting development for the…
Ornellaia 2021 is as powerful and generous a vintage as its cuvée name suggests. Over the years, this iconic Super Tuscan house has achieved a the fine balancing act of consistency and evolution. I recently sat down to taste…
Pantelleria is a rugged, volcanic island known for its abundance of seafood, its capers, and its famous sweet wine made from Zibibbo, Passito di Pantelleria. In May 2024, I hopped on a plane in Trapani to check out the…
Go big or go home. This is the “America” portrayed in our media. Risk-takers, visionaries, scrappy dreamers building empires, unabashed displays of prosperity. Big houses, big cars, big companies, big wines… Does the stereotype still hold true for California…
Restaurant wine lists are often infuriatingly opaque, and – in my opinion – getting increasingly so over time. Too often they simply list a producer name, a wide, generic designation (Vin de France, anyone?), and a vintage. We are…