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To all Wine Exchangers, In the wine business we see this all the time. We always reference Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow taxi when we get to this point. “…you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” And so it goes with the 2010 Brunello di Montalcinos. I’ve tasted the 2011’s. They’re good. Super tasty. […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Shiraz, anyone? Hey, I know you like it. But I also know there’s a bunch of you closet Aussie-philes sitting at home right now, choking down some off-vintage Loire Valley Cabernet Franc, trying to be ‘hip’ or ‘cool’. Afraid to open that bottle of Shiraz at your next dinner party? Don’t […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Bernard Magrez. You’ve seen this name in these pages before. His commitment to producing many of the finest wines on the planet at a no-expense-spared scenario is well-documented. The proof is in the pudding. His flagship winery in Bordeaux, Chateau Pape Clement, goes toe-to-toe with the likes of Haut Brion and […]

To all Wine Exchangers, It’s time for your Oregon Pinot Master Class. Have you been keeping up on your studies? We’re so happy Tony Soter went and did this. Fact of the matter is I can’t believe we hadn’t seen this series to this extent before. Though granted, you have to have access to remarkable […]

We were up late watching the first broadcast in a while of a favorite show on network T.V. when, toward the end of the show, the inevitable trailer for the ensuing news broadcast came on.  But this time, instead of the usual ‘local Armageddon’ sound bite (fire, shooting, car crash, etc.), there was a couple […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Here’s a name that some of you long-time California wine drinkers may remember. Beltane Ranch. Ring any bells? Well it did for me. I fondly remember enjoying a number of Chardonnays produced by this vineyard in the early-90’s that were bottled by Kenwood Vineyards. But little did I know that Beltane […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Groth is hot! It’s one of the grand, hallmark names in Napa Valley wine. Its reputation precedes itself. In the 1985 vintage, Dennis Groth and winemaker Nils Venge crafted the first 100 point wine in California history with their historic 1985 Groth Reserve. To this day that wine remains an intensely […]

To all Wine Exchangers, This project from Argentina’s Michelini brothers (You might recall we sent out a piece on their Zorzal Pinot not long ago) began in 2012 in Mendoza as an inspiration to focus on the pure soul and terroir of, specifically, the Uco Valley, and very specifically, Gualtallary and Vista Flores.  Ok, I […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Dude, this is like totally rad. When Hill Family brought in the initial release of this wine to us a few years back, our first thought on hearing the description of how wine comes in barrel and a certain wave formation is also called a ‘barrel’ was “that’s a bit of a […]

To all Wine Exchangers, This is ridiculous. Usually we encounter one, maybe two superlatives in even the greatest write-up from the likes of Parker, Spectator and the like. The air, rife with the ubiquitous “notes of blah, blah, blah…” can often easily be pierced by the bold ‘enthralling’, ‘explosive’ and/or ‘holy cow!’. When that happens, […]