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...

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...

    The Rose wines that hail from Bernard Reverdy are worthy of respect. Pinot Noir is a delicacy when grown in the optimum climatic conditions. Too many try to emulate the natural disposition of French Pinot Noir. In Sancerre, the climate allows the grapes to grow with warm summers and cool nights thus producing fruit that has the delicate balance between sugar and acidity. This vineyard is tiny measuring just over 4 acres, which means a great attention to detail and a very polished product. The vines are on average twenty-five years old and the soil types are Limestone kimmerigian marl. These are the perfect ingredients to cultivate top class fruit. This wine has an elegant shade of salmon pink, with an intense nose of white peaches, red berries, and white flowers. This flavorful rich wine has persistence which is ultimately balanced by a succinct acidity. This wine...

    I spent a morning just outside of Sancerre with Bernard Reverdy and his family. We talked about their wines and how they continue a family tradition right in the heart of French viticulture. Sancerre is all about the citrusy fruit, the minerality and the Holy Grail; the acidity levels which are barometers of understanding quality in good white wine making. The climate is perfect for making Sauvignon Blanc wines. It is here in Sancerre that one can uncover the delicacy that is the malic and lactic acids of the Sauvignon Blanc varietal. The idea is to provide a wine that makes the tongue yearn for more and perhaps to think about eating a well prepared meal. Very few have managed to make wines of this character year in, year out. Undulating hills of Limestone-clay and kimmerigian marl type soils provide the structure in the wines which in...

    This wine is a Great example of typical French winemaking from Bordeaux situated in the Haut-Medoc between St Julien and Margaux. Mr. Aney founded the property in 1850. Since 1972, the estate has been in the hands of Jean Pierre Raimond. This wine is a hearty expression of all that is good from Bordeaux and reasonably well priced. 65% cabernet Sauvignon, 25% merlot, the rest is Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the lynchpins of classic Bordeaux wine. The soil type here is clay-gravel and sandy-gravel over a limestone substratum. The gravel stones retain the heat from the sunshine, protecting the vines from the frost in wintertime, and during the ripening season, they provide the necessary heat to promote sugar synthesis in the grapes. Cru Bourgeois is a guarantee of quality with strict governing rules that mean a wine can be promoted or relegated from the class on...

    In the southern regions of France, we can guarantee a few certainties almost every-day. The weekly activities and day-to-day tribulations of the local football team Olympique Marseille go hand in hand with a Ricard, and Gitanes cigarettes. Another stalwart from this region of the Midi, is Domaine Tempier. Situated in the hills above Toulon, twenty kilometers due east of Marseille, this is where the now famous impressionists lived and worked, Lautrec, van Gogh, and Monet, where lavender and olives trees grow wild, and a beautiful softness to the air. It can be hot in the summer, which is perfect for the cultivation of Mourvedre. This varietal produces medium to big bodied wines that are capable of ageing for many a year. This innate ability owes itself to Mourvedre’s ability to resist oxidation. Abundant sunshine, intertwined with clay limestone soils, and a cool breeze that blows from the...