HOT LOT January 1, 2012 WHO: DeLille Cellars WHAT: Red Bordeaux Blend WHERE: Washington, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain DESIGNATION: Chaleur Estate WHEN: 2003 SIZE: 750 ml RESERVE: $170 (all three bottles) MINIMUM BID INCREMENT: $10 95 Points, Wine Advocate Both the 2003 and 2002 red Chaleur Estates set new standards
As I was finishing my pasta dish, I noticed I’d switched to a spoon, to lick up every bit of the house-made tortellini stuffed with delicate Maine crab, drizzled with a light parmesan crema, surrounded by a hedge of pumpkin-read more-
Driving around the enigmatic, fog-shrouded Piedmont region of Italy, I saw steep vineyards that fall away from the winding, mountain roads, and medieval castles looming out of the haze on every other hilltop. I recalled the great Barolo and Barbaresco-read more-
"Second city" tours and "unprecedented access" are the keys and keywords employed by high-profile Italian winemakers to meet the challenges of a tough market. Gaia Gaja, judged a team-building cooking competition in which her new "brand ambassadors" learned how to-read more-
The sign outside the entrance to the winery of Angelo Gaja, in the Piedmontese village of Barbaresco, says volumes in little: Gaja—four letters on a square plaque, gray on gray, like a cornerstone on a civic monument. When Angelo Gaja-read more-
Not as elegant as I had expected, but perhaps understandable given the vintage. Very perfumy, with stewed fruits and tar leading from nose to palate. A twinge of crowbar would keep the blind taster in Piedmont, as would the tannins,-read more-