Cellar Favorite: 1957 Domaine Ramonet Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy
, Jan 2020
Over the last two decades I have visited practically all the major domaines in the Côte d’Or. There is one glaring and unforgivable omission: Ramonet.
Vinous Table: The Black Bull, Sedbergh, UK
Vinous Table, United Kingdom
, Jan 2020
Restaurants such as The Black Bull play a crucial role in attracting tourists and epicures to less-traveled parts of the country, and reasonable prices mean that you are not breaking the bank for either food or wine.
Cellar Favorite: 2014 Domaine Taupenot-Merme Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy
, Jan 2020
I had tasted many vintages from barrel but never the finished article until a friend from the Far East invited me to choose any bottle from the enormous wine list at Maison de Colombier in Beaune. I knew instantly which one I wanted: the 2014 Clos des Lambrays from Taupenot-Merme. And it had only taken me 20 years!
2018 Burgundy: Confounded Expectations
France: Burgundy, featured
, Jan 2020
Burgundy can be confounding at the best of times, both in a positive and negative sense. For many, that’s part of its allure. The 2018 vintage sprung many surprises, thankfully many of them positive. The bigger question is whether it is a harbinger of things to come.
Neal Martin's Review of 2019
General Interest, United Kingdom, featured
, Dec 2019
A fellow scribe confessed that earlier this year, a winemaker had offered his condolences about my untimely death. This annual review confirms that in fact I did reach the end of 2019. The last 12 months were full of highs and deepest of lows - yet there was always wine, music and a tomorrow.
Cellar Favorite: 1978 & 1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Rhône & Beaujolais
, Dec 2019
I must confess a penchant for mature Châteauneuf-du-Pape, though sadly I do not have many opportunities to drink it. It’s almost more difficult to track down ancient bottles of Rhône than of Burgundy.
Vinous Table: Trivet, London, United Kingdom
Vinous Table, United Kingdom
, Dec 2019
If you seek a restaurant with cuisine from the top drawer, without fuss and ostentatiousness, and an eclectic wine list not intent on gouging you for every penny, then Trivet comes recommended.
Cellar Favorite: 1939 & 1950 Cheval Blanc
France: Bordeaux, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Dec 2019
There is always a frisson of excitement in coming eyeball to eyeball with a prewar bottle of Bordeaux, especially one from a vintage dismissed and written out of history.
Cellar Journal: Bordeaux 1920-2015
France: Bordeaux, featured
, Dec 2019
As the year winds down, this article gathers Bordeaux tasting notes from old to young, derided to legendary vintages, and value-for-money wines to ridiculously expensive...with a few surprises along the way.
Cellar Favorite: 2013 Domaine J-F Mugnier Musigny Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy
, Dec 2019
When I visited the domaine in Chambolle-Musigny in November 2019, Mugnier poured me his latest vintage to see the light of day.