Blog Index

Richard Betts

Dirt, Diesel and B.O.—The Requisite Ingredients for Good Wine

Posted: 05:18 PM ET, 11/12/07

I recently found myself in the Rhône Valley with about 30 other pickers taking refuge in the shade of an old storage shed. Mid-afternoon, we all sat hot, parched, sticky and, in my case, with a deep cut on my hand that continued to spurt blood hours after I attempted to leave that piece of my finger in the vineyard. Read more

James Suckling

Perfect with Blemishes and All

Posted: 04:55 PM ET, 11/12/07

It’s the perfect imperfect wine – 1947 Cheval Blanc. I am sure most of you have heard about this legendary red. It’s ageless. It’s also priceless. And it’s also probably the most counterfeited wine of them all.

Yet I had a perfect bottle of the wine about a week ago in Los Angeles, during a vertical tasting of the great St. Read more

James Laube

Inspiring New Wines From Saxum

Posted: 01:19 PM ET, 11/12/07

Saxum has a new-look label, with wood block prints. But more importantly, the new releases are its best wines ever.

Aside from winemaker Justin Smith’s personal achievements, which are momentous, his wines are vital to his hometown of Paso Robles because they show what can be accomplished in this still new and evolving appellation. Read more

James Molesworth

Yes, I Do Sometimes Eat While in the Rhône

Posted: 09:26 AM ET, 11/11/07

Contrary to popular belief, the life of the wine journalist on the road is not that glamorous. I’m not much of a breakfast person, so I typically skip a formal meal and instead struggle to get a handful or two of granola down while I drive to my first appointment. Read more

Harvey Steiman

Michelin Stingy with Stars in new guides to L.A., Las Vegas

Posted: 10:14 PM ET, 11/10/07

Michelin had planned on Monday, November 12 to announce the top restaurants in its first-ever restaurant guides to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but word leaked out early thanks to a glitch on the company's web site. Saturday's Los Angeles Times contained a complete list of the star winners, the accuracy confirmed by a rueful company representative. Read more

Bruce Sanderson

A Closer Look At Cristal

Posted: 02:43 PM ET, 11/09/07

Louis Roederer’s Cristal is one of the most prestigious and widely recognized prestige cuvées from Champagne. Yet, often in my blind tastings, it doesn’t stand out.

Although the 2000 and 1999 vintages rated outstanding (91 points), I rated the 1997 88 points and the 1996 initially 90 points, before giving it 94 points a year later. Read more

James Laube

From Behrens & Hitchcock Comes Erna Schein

Posted: 01:37 PM ET, 11/09/07

When Behrens & Hitchcock dissolved their partnership in 2005, ending a run of both classy and racy red wines, Les Behrens and his wife, Lisa Drinkward, took over the Spring Mountain winery and reinvented themselves as Erna Schein Handcrafted Wines. Read more

James Suckling

Classic Beauty of Cheval-Blanc

Posted: 10:50 AM ET, 11/09/07

Cheval-Blanc has a unique style. It’s a wine that really has somewhereness to it, for lack of a better phrase. Or it is what the French say, “a wine from great terroir.” I love the perfumed and aromatic quality of the wine and its silky, refined texture. Read more

James Molesworth

Day 9: Jean-Michel Gerin and Stéphane Ogier

Posted: 09:33 AM ET, 11/09/07

My previous visits with Jean-Michel Gerin have always started with an early morning, stomach-churning drive up into his vineyards in his mini-truck. This visit was different. We started with an early afternoon, stomach-churning drive up into his vineyards in his 1984 Renault, which he proudly showed only had 27,000 kilometers on it. Read more

James Laube

A Clean Hit From Paso Robles

Posted: 01:43 PM ET, 11/08/07

Each new day brings at least one new label, and two of the wines that stood out in yesterday’s blind tasting came from a name that’s new to me: Terry Hoage Vineyards.

The wines alone would have merited mention. But after the bags came off and I had a chance to look at the labels I noticed one had "46" on the side and I wondered: Could this be a reference to the famous 4-6 defense taught by Buddy Ryan? No. Read more

- Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 -