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Taittinger: The Restoration Vintage

Roger Morris
Feature Stories
3 min read
“My father didn’t really want to sell the business,” Vitalie Taittinger recalls.  “I think he felt a little shame, a lot of pain, that it wasn’t the courageous thing to do to sell the family heritage.  I was very sad for my father.” It was the summer of 2005, and

Sangiovese by Another Name: Morellino di Scansano

Tracy Ellen Kamens
Feature Stories
6 min read
For many, Sangiovese and Tuscany are practically synonymous. But, while Chianti and Brunello immediately spring to mind, the less familiar Morellino di Scansano offers equally enjoyable wines by another name. Situated in the Maremma province, in the southernmost part of Tuscany, the Morellino territory is nearly equidistant between Rome and

Irish spirit

Michelle Locke
Feature Stories
4 min read
“Business or pleasure?” asked the garda at Dublin airport immigration control. “ I’m not sure,” I replied. “I’m here to learn about Irish whiskey.” “That can only be pleasure,” he said with a smile as he stamped my passport with a thump. He was right. My tour of Irish whiskey

Master Somm Candidates do battle on Uncorked

Becky Sue Epstein
About
1 min read
What happens when a sommelier spills while decanting an $800 bottle of wine?  Is there actually a correct way to serve wine? Ever wondered how much a restaurant wine director actually knows about wine: how does he or she determined which wine you, personally, will enjoy with your meal? The

Nikolaihof: The Wrong Side of the Wachau

Simon J Woolf
Feature Stories
4 min read
“This is the new part of the cellar”, says Nikolaus Saahs with a wry smile as we walk around the extraordinary gothic basement of his family's estate - Nikolaihof. It's “only” 400 years old, compared to the rest which dates from the Roman era (c. 1,880 years ago). I can't

Second wines deserve a second look

Roger Morris
Feature Stories
3 min read
It was a great summer for drinking second wines. During Vinexpo in June, there was the vibrant 2014 Fleur de Pédseclaux, sampled from the barrel at the reawakened château’s dazzling new winery in Pauillac, just across the road from the Rothschilds.  Then there was Silvio Nardi’s Rosso di Montalcino at a dinner

The Mother Vine: Livermore Reconsidered

Joe Roberts
Feature Stories
5 min read
That California’s Livermore Valley is largely off the radar for wine geeks and collectors is one of the more bizarre turns in the history of U.S. wine. While rarely mentioned in the same breath as Napa Valley, Sonoma County, or Paso Robles, it could easily be argued that no other