ConoSur Pinot Noir “Bicycle” Label

Although my wine shop has been closed for more than 15 months, family and friends continue to inquire as to my drinking preferences. Imported by one of the most respected French import houses, a company that brings many of my favorite Burgundies to America, this affordable Pinot has been poured at my house now for [...]

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Phenomenal Pinot – Roessler Direct to YOU

Hello again friends, For several vintages now, including a couple of offers some of you enjoyed in the old wine shop, I’ve been discussing the wines from Roessler Cellars in Sonoma.  Home to some of the finest Pinot Noirs I not only have sold, but collect and regularly consume as well, Roessler routinely releases what [...]

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Biodynamic Updates – And Some New Wines to Try

We’ve just returned from our scouting trip to Virginia and my mind this morning is swimming with ideas.  The local wine scene in Richmond is vastly different than the one evidenced by consumers in the metropolis where I currently reside, with the most obvious contrast being the abundance of boutique shops adorning the landscape.  From one [...]

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A Biodynamic Roundup

Blog Update #73, 2009: A Biodynamic Roundup I’ve chronicled our steps towards the building of a new and vastly improved family business through these blog updates, sharing daily discoveries over at my social network page where I’m known by the “handle” of Chambertin.   As we dig down deep this morning to hopefully complete the final [...]

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Groundhog Day

  With aching muscles and a tired mind I return to the keyboard again, a glass of wine and a worn out telephone beside me.  The last two days and a total of 20 working hours saw me organizing a former client’s home wine cellar.  The wines being stocked were nearly all from my old [...]

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HWI Does the Underbelly of Houston’s Wine Scene

  So it’s early afternoon on a cloudy, humid day here in Houston and your consumer proponent is working up the energy to make the drive to 2410 Smith Street.  It’s been a leisurely day so far, the usual errands complete, consisting of Little M’s school run, a few paragraphs typed for articles due to [...]

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Houston Wine Idealist Week II

As a consumer in this nation’s 4th largest city, I now find myself in a very different position than the one I held over the past decade.  From 1999 until very recently, I was a merchant of fine wine, offering the city’s inhabitants wines that could best be described as exclusive, esoteric selections from a [...]

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Laetitia Winery – Tardivat’s Dream Lives On

I told myself I was going to approach these Recession Busters with less apparent fanfare than the weekly newsletters for one simple reason: “cheap don’t need no hype!”  But after the realization that the several thousand recipients of yesterday’s e*blast apparently overlooked the absolutely untouchable price on the Laetitia Pinot Noir, I’ve decided it behooves [...]

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Lost Canyon, Widdoes, and the Dutton Ranch Connection

One taste, I was absolutely hooked!  Then I began to hear the story, the tale of the connection, the reason this wine stayed with me for so many hours.  Take a moment, if you can spare the time. Because the folks behind the label, the gentle farmers tending the grapes, they are the real story, [...]

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Panther Creek turns 20 – Ken Wright should be Proud!

Panther Creek passes the 20 year mark! Twenty years; my how time passes!  Stop for just a second and try to recapture a moment of your life-time from twenty years past.  That would have been somewhere near 1986 for the folks at Panther Creek (their 2006 release is adorned with the anniversary label).  Considering that [...]

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