Monthly Archives: March 2014

Bon Merde: A Guide to Burgundy

Bon Merde: A Guide to Burgundy The Cote d’Or is a stretch of land either side of Beaune which is in Burgundy France. The Cote is divided into two parts, to the north of Beaune lies the Cote de Nuits stretching for roughly twenty-five miles towards Dijon, famous for its moutarde. To the south of Beaune there is the aptly named Cote de Beaune. The reds come from the northern half and the whites come from the southern half. There is an exception, on the southern half there are reds from Volnay and Pommard too, Volnay reds have a reputation of being especially fine. However, there are no Grand Cru reds on the southern part, only 1er Cru and there are no whites made of any recognition on the northern half. The reds are made from Pinot Noir, the whites are made from Chardonnay and without exaggerating these wines...

Brunello, how can I resist you?

There are some wines that everyone should try at least once. Very few have the opportunity and time to get into the layers of mystery that lie in a great bottle. Sure, we all drink wine, however few us really appreciate what it can be. I am here to hopefully help you discover some of the great wines just after I have gone through the process of being the kings taster. Something I have to say relatively speaking, relative to time that is, we are on this planet for very little time. Take a look at the stars on a very dark night. If light travels at 196,000 miles per second and we see a star that is say just one light year away, well, thats the number of seconds in one year times 196,000 right ? Get it ? So relatively speaking we are dots. I guess I...

Investing in Chianti Classico

How can you tell what is good and what is not so good? How do I, as start up business make my selection process in an appellation as big as chianti where literally there are hundreds and hundreds of producers? How do I go about the selection process that will allow me to import the finest of quality? I will let you into a little secret! Walking through the beautiful streets of Siena I had a great idea as I was walking by a fairly selective wine shop, in Italian an ‘Enoteca’. Find a good retailer who knows his stuff, learn from those who already know, it saves time and money, and is certainly very efficient. I found one such store, ‘Enoteca Cantina Del Brunello’. I went inside and introduced myself to the owner. We started chatting and I got him to write down on the back of a...