Domaine Michel Magnien ~ The Gateway to Burgundy

  My first encounter with Frederic – Freddy – Magnien (5th generation winemaker for both the Domaine as well as Negoce side of the family business) was over breakfast back in 2007. It was the morning preceding one of his annual wine-maker tours – this one held in Los Angelas – and he, my wife, [...]

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Domaine Taupenot Merme ~ Haunting, impossibly elegant

Having heard that we would be visiting the Cote for the annual Grand Jours de Bourgogne, Romain Taupenot-Merme emailed me mid-week to extend a personal invitation to join him at his home to visit the Domaine and taste his 2010s. Considering the reputation that precedes this venerable estate, I made certain our afternoon calendar that [...]

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Domaine Nicolas Rossignol ~ “Absolutely not to be missed” ~ Burghound

  At the ripe old age of 33, standing on stage before hundreds of this country’s most passionate fans of Burgundian wines, Nicolas Rossignol was honored for his work in Volnay when Bruce Sanderson of the Wine Spectator dubbed this unassuming vigneron “Burgundy’s latest vanguard”. The crowd attending that year’s New York Wine Experience – [...]

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Domaine Albert Morot – Doing for Beaune as Ghislaine does for Chambolle

  While visiting with David Croix (winemaker for both Domaine des Croix as well as the famous Maison Camille Giroud) while in Burgundy for the Grand Jours de Bourgogne, I found it enlightening to discover how greatly he reveres the wines of Geoffroy Choppin de Janvry – current vigneron of the Domaine Albert Morot. Needless [...]

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Domaine Jerome Chezeaux – Where lutte raisonnee results in Super-Star status

  Another fine producer who was conspicuously absent at this year’s Grand Jours De Bourgogne; could it be that importers State-side are hoarding the fruits of their favorite producer’s labor away for their own pleasure? The absence of this perennial over-achiever certainly suggests such a possibility.   The original estate that would eventually become known [...]

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Domaine Virgile Lignier-Michelot – Among the “Must-Haves” for 2010 ~ and beyond

  Having heard much recently of the rise in popularity of this estate with multiple international wine critics as well as professional sommeliers, I made a point to elbow my way through the crowd surrounding Virgile’s booth at this year’s Grand Jours De Bourgogne. Tasting his wines revealed not only some of the highlights of [...]

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Domaine Christian Serafin – A Father’s Perseverance Leads to a Domaine’s Greatest Achievements

  Tales of perseverance, strife and hardship often lend insight to the character of a wine-maker as well as the wines produced as a result of their steadfastness. One tale of immense perseverance is that of a Polish immigrant named Stanislaus Serafin, who in the late 1930s settled in the village of Gevrey Chambertin with [...]

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Simone Scaletta – Classic Piedmonts from Italy | A Sampling of Weygandt’s Best

  From his web-site: Since 1987, Peter Weygandt has been an importer of French wines and has gained a national and international reputation for the quality of his selections and his portfolio of top “boutique” French wines. Peter Weygandt Selections are a near constant feature of top wine journals including Robert M. Parker, Jr.’s The [...]

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The Wines of Indian Summer | Libations for a Weary Nation

        I recall fondly first meeting the intellectual Randall Grahm on a rather warm summer night in the late 1980s as he hosted a group of wine drinkers’ monthly event in Fort Worth Texas. This group, an average age of the membership at that time being, oh, perhaps, 60 or so, known [...]

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2009 Les Maître Vignerons de la Presqu’ile de SAINT-TROPEZ Rose’ Cotes de Provence Cuvee Premier (50% Grenache/50%Cinsault)

I suppose the one aspect of being a wine shop owner I miss most, aside from all the fabulous new wine discoveries, would have to be the trips I made to France so often. Being the die-hard French wine fan that I am, my first trip to France would not be to focus on the [...]

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