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Cellar Favorite: 2005 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, Italy: Piedmont
, Jan 2022
What a thrill it is to drink Bruno Giacosa’s 2005 Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive. The 2005 has been consistently brilliant since I first tasted it over a dozen years ago, but I confess that I had forgotten just how captivating the 2005 is. The word ‘classic’ is over-used, but that is exactly what the 2005 is. Classic.
Cellar Favorite: 1979 Domaine Macle Château-Chalon
France, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Jan 2022
Like many winelovers, I am fascinated by the Jura region, but for my sins, have never found the time to visit. Whenever I visit Burgundy on a clear day, I often stop and gaze towards its hills in the far distance and resolve that one day I shall venture across.
Cellar Favorite: 2009 Marcel Lapierre Morgon Cuvée Marcel Lapierre
France: Rhône & Beaujolais, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Jan 2022
Marcel Lapierre was a living legend in Beaujolais when he passed away at the age of sixty, in October 2010, just after harvest. Such was his renown that his obituary was published in the New York Times as well as in major newspapers across the globe.
Cellar Favorite: 2001 Kunin Syrah Alisos Vineyards
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, United States: California
, Dec 2021
Kunin’s 2001 Syrah Alisos Vineyards is an eye-opening wine. Still wonderfully fresh at age twenty, the 2001 impresses with its soaring floral/spice aromatics and vibrant, dark red-toned fruit.
Cellar Favorite: Vins Doux Naturel 1961-1991
France, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Dec 2021
With the Festive season not a million miles away, it’s time to think about cracking open some Vins Doux Naturels. Readers will know that I have been following Philippe Gayral for some years now, a man on a mission to rescue precious and often forgotten vats down in Roussillon, picking out the best and sprucing them up.
Cellar Favorite: 1984 Château Margaux
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux
, Dec 2021
Many moons ago, a Japanese colleague and his better half came for dinner at my rabbit-hutch sized flat in South London. I picked a bottle of 1984 Château Margaux from my cellar, to serve with my spaghetti bolognaise, which readers may have noticed was the only dish I could make back in those days.
Cellar Favorite: 1970 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, Italy: Piedmont
, Nov 2021
A door to another time in Piedmont opens with the 1970 Barolo, a wine made by Battista Rinaldi long before his son, Beppe, ran the winery and well before his granddaughters, Marta and Carlotta, were even born.
Cellar Favorite: 1989 Gaja Barbaresco
Italy: Tuscany, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Nov 2021
It is still one of the greatest tastings I have ever done. One chilly, late fall afternoon about a dozen years ago, Angelo and Gaia Gaja opened all of their 1989s and 1990s for an article I was working on, Piedmont’s Glorious 1989 and 1990 Vintages Revisited.
Cellar Favorite: 1995 Haut-Brion
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux
, Nov 2021
The 1995 Bordeaux vintage is one that I would like to revisit more often. It has not been forgotten about. After all, it was one of the most celebrated vintages of the decade, but it has been side-lined by subsequent growing seasons.
Cellar Favorite: 1949 Malartic-Lagravière
cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux
, Nov 2021
Mature bottles of Château Malartic-Lagravière are rarely seen, and sadly the Bonnie family, proprietors of the château in Léognan, have few bottles in the cellar themselves. The 1949 Malartic-Lagravière came from a stash of six cases cellared in Switzerland that were sold back to the château.