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To all Wine Exchangers, There isn’t a lot of suspense here.  Cune is a top producer in Rioja with a long and storied history dating back to the founding of the Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (CVNE, ‘Cune’ is an anachronism for that) in 1879.  This is one of the grand old classics of […]

To all Wine Exchangers, “This (Delas) team continues to knock it out of the park.” -Jeb Dunnuck, eRobertParker.com With that quote in mind and, as the MLB season comes down to the wire, we thought it was the appropriate time for a Delas 2012 Double Play. These guys have been killing it since Jacques Grange […]

To all Wine Exchangers, It was with great sadness that we wrote this piece back in May.  “It’s hard to get noticed if you are the quiet players in a field of more flamboyant wineries that make more flamboyant styles. Yet the Varner brothers did just that, two pretty laid back guys that fashioned attention-getting Chardonnays and […]

Consider this an open letter to restaurateurs everywhere who deem themselves purveyors of a serious wine program. First, a quick question.  Would you serve dishes (outside of cured meats, etc) that were prepared 3-4 days earlier?  Of course you wouldn’t or you would quickly not be a restaurateur any more.  We suspect you wouldn’t ever […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Huet. Is there a more iconic white wine estate in France’s Loire Valley? Yeah, sure, we could put Didier Dagueneau in the mix, and perhaps the Cotats in Sancerre but, beyond that, I mean, c’mon, Huet is about as cool as it gets. The domaine’s founder, Victor Huet, was a Parisian […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Ahh…tradition. Another year, another potentially perfect Insignia. I love September. Joseph Phelps track record is enviable. Since 1991, Joseph Phelps Insignia has produced at least 7 wines that have racked up scores north of 98 points, including three 100 pointers and a Wine Spectator Wine of the Year. The 2012 picked […]

To all Wine Exchangers, The wines from Argentina’s Tapiz winery have been part of our repertoire for quite some time.  Many boxes have passed through these doors, though primarily from their well-run value label, Zolo.  We hadn’t worked with their Tapiz label all that often in the past, but it looks like this upper-tier label […]

To all Wine Exchangers, “Pulling from his estate vineyards located east of Monterey, in San Benito County and the Mount Harlan AVA, winemaker Josh Jensen can seemingly do no wrong. He produces beautiful whites and reds that are singular and packed with flavor…”- Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate, August 2016 "One of the things that separates […]

To all Wine Exchangers, More on that remarkable quote a little further down the page. In the 80s and 90s, Beaujolais was still looking for respect.  A few pioneering souls imported more serious producers to try and take the category to the next level and prove that the genre was relevant beyond the third Thursday […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Yeah it’s a little bit of a play on words, but there is actually a little bit of a ‘bear market’ in certain parts of the wine world. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the wines themselves in many cases. There are some outstanding wines that aren’t experiencing a […]