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To all Wine Exchangers, Marques de Murrieta is one of Rioja’s oldest estates. Actually, it could be the region’s oldest property. According to the Murrieta folks, the property’s founder, Luciano Murrieta y García-Lemoine, produced the first fine wine from Rioja and was the first one to export it, way back in 1852. Most of the […]

To all Wine Exchangers, We’ll keep this short and sweet seen as y’all know how much we love the 2015 Beaujolais and just how epic the vintage is. Another ‘bomb’ shipment of 2015 Beaujolais has just arrived! We received a nice, one-time shot of Guy Breton’s 94-point Morgon Vieilles Vignes. It,s maybe the finest version […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Cabenet Franc, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.  OK, yeah, we love a good Franc around here and, as Franc-ophiles know, it is a sometimes trying affair.  Sometimes Cabernet Francs are a little under-ripe, and sometimes a little narrow in the fruit department.  But when they get […]

To all Wine Exchangers, ‘Twas the season for lists.  The last part of 2016, as we have mentioned many times, has been inundated with ‘best of’ lists from the pundits.  The Wine Spectator’s is probably the most followed, Wine Enthusiast has their own version, and we have lost count of how many ‘Top 100’ lists […]

To all Wine Exchangers, So it’s a new year, but with some of the same problems as last year and a few that look like they might be getting worse.  Clearly, we still live in a world where, to the pundits and for most wine drinkers, Cabernet is King.  In fact, a vintage isn’t even […]

To all Wine Exchangers, How’s this for cool, wine geeky and an absolute must-have? These ageless sweet wines are snapshots into the past; quietly resting in the corners of a number of the Roussillon’s ancient wine cellars, sometimes forgotten, in large barrels or glass demi-johns, for decades and decades. They are lightly fortified with 10% […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Frankly, I was debating on whether or not to feature this one. We can sense a wine’s sales mojo the minute it hits the floor (website). We occasionally discover wines that don’t need our help or a push, they just naturally find homes immediately, people clicking away, buying cases, grabbing bottles […]

As we touch base with a lot of suppliers during the holidays over quick, casual lunches, we often take a rare moment to sit and talk with various reps about the current state of the wine market.  Since some of us have been in the business since the late 70s, the question came up from […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Well hot damn! It took them long enough but Oregon is finally figuring out Chardonnay. Why was this so tough? I mean, these guys have the same weather scenario as Burgundy, same latitude, they crush it with Pinot Noir, but for years these guys couldn’t make a single solid Chardonnay if […]

To all Wine Exchangers, There’s a lot going on in Charles Smith’s world. He’s recently sold several of his iconic brands for a ton of money. Cool. And he’s received a ton of accolades for his most recent releases under this label as well as the K Vintners label. Which begs the questions, what is […]