This story is continued from "Wine is too cheap: Working Harvest in South Africa (Part 1)" As a tasting exercise during meals, Burger pulled two bottles of wine for me and the assistant winemaker Drew to sample blind and guess the grapes and origin. We could ask four strategic questions
I couldn't remember the last time I climbed a ladder. Living in New York for over a decade, it's just not something I ever have to do. Looking at its narrow frame and spindly rungs, lashed to the top of a seemingly skyscraper-high steel tank by a single, knotted rope,
The unique terroir of the Côtes des Bar expresses itself well in this vintage. The 2015 harvest has drawn to a close in Champagne and overall everybody is very happy with the results. The hot summer boosted the ripeness levels, and in the end brought forward the harvest dates by
As the year draws to a close, and the base wines have finished their alcoholic fermentation the people of Champagne are excited about the 2013 vintage. Many had been worried by the late harvest dates; it has been 25 years since the harvest dates lingered into October. The development of
With all the buzz around California’s 2013 harvest, it’s easy to forget that 2012 was pretty spectacular as well –and it’s hitting the wine shelves now. “2012 was a Goldilocks vintage,” said Alder Yarrow of Vinography and JancisRobinson.com fame, who presented the 2012 vintage, earlier this fall, in New York
A cool, persistent spring was the beginning of the weather problems that would plague the 2011 California harvest, pushing back bud break to make the grapes almost three weeks behind schedule. May and June had heavy rains, and the summer heat never really spiked. Pinot noir and chardonnay seemed happy
En route to the first Chardonnay Symposium, the city of Santa Maria appeared in all its incarnations. Hosted at Bien Nacido Vineyards’ historic Adobe, the morning began, like most in this winemaking region, wrapped in tangible veils of fog. As-read more-
The many storied wine regions of Northern California experienced a harvest this year that was in one way, ideal and in another quite anxiety-inducing. Fruit growth was delayed this year by a cooler spring and summer, but the overall temperatures-read more-