The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

Most wines don't age well - they just decline, especially white. White Burgundy, on the other hand, particularly 1er and Grand Cru actually needs a few years to hit its stride. Meursault, one of the great Chardonnay villages in the world, one whose grandeur and style was the target of the legendary pioneers of California wine industry in the 1970's, such as Mike Grgich and Chateau Montelena, gives greater pleasure as it gains in maturity. But how long should you wait? And how long is too long? From the mailer by Ross Bott, the organizer: Meursault is in the geographic center of the Cotes du Beaune region of Burgundy, with Pommard two kilometers to the north and Puligny Montrachet two kilometers to the south. It totals just under a thousand acres of planted vines, almost all Chardonnay. About 200,000 cases of wines are produced each year, of which 98% are white. The vineyards of Meursault itself surround the town, with the premier cru vineyards just to the southwest and the re...

Chris Watkins and I have been discussing getting together for a really cool Ridge tasting ever since he reached out to me after my mention of Ridge at the Wine & Spirits Top 100 tasting . Finally he came up with a great angle. Robert Parker's latest scoring of Ridge wines inspired Chris, the tasting room manager at Ridge Monte Bello - an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and all-around cool dude, to throw a re-tasting for the mere mortal wine blogger folk. Armed with fancy cameras, shabby notepads, and cute business cards, a small army of wine and food writers showed up at Ridge on a beautiful sunny morning of March 18. I also invited my friend and wine director at Donato Enoteca - Eric L. - for second opinions and witty commentary! I see Parker's scores far from being something I rely on for personal enjoyment, but if you learn to calibrate his scores against your palate, then it's a useful data point. After the tasting of the same portfolio, my conclusion is that Parker...

In wine, I had never experienced such an embarrassment of riches as I did in the 3 hours of sinful debauchery otherwise called "the Grand Tasting" that ensued right after the well-behaved Burghound Seminar at La Paulée. I now stood in a large room teeming with industry insiders and some of the most legendary winemaker / producer figures of our age. Like the proverbial Buridan's ass , wasting precious moments, I was stuck to the floor trying to figure out my approach. Why were they torturing me so?! Dangling grand crus from Roumier, Mortet, Leflaive, Lafon, Dujac, Grivot, Ramonet, Bonneau du Martray, and many many other objects of desire in front of me, altogether over a hundred wines - to cover them all within 3 short hours - unthinkable cruel fate! On top of that, signature dishes from Michael Mina RN74, Quince, The Slanted Door, Acquerello, Boulevard, Il Cane Rosso, La folie, Jardiniere, incredible cheese array from Andante Dairy , and more, more, more - to go with the...

...continued from Part 1.2 . After Veronique Drouhin concluded her trio of 2006 whites, Jacques Lardière, the Technical Director at Maison Louis Jadot briskly took over. The 3 wines he had to present were Beaune 1er Cru "Clos des Ursules" 2002, Corton Pugets 2002, and Charmes-Chambertin 2002. In stark contrast to the even-spoken well-paced Veronique, Jacques was near incomprehensible - with heavy French accent, words shooting out as if from a machine gun, I saw a prototypical mad scientist, passionate about Burgundy, the terroir, and his wines, taking himself (rather than the audience) on a journey that was more amusing (thanks to his presentation style) than informative (since it was hard to follow). I caught something about "grand cru being aristocratic vin, washing over my every organ". Jacques went on and on, forgetting that we had wines in front of us that he should really be talking about. But finally someone (Allen?) reminded him - and so we came to "Clo...

...continued from Part 1.1 . Burgschnauzer in his well-written post about Le Montrachet put it nicely: "The mythology of a famous vineyard can be greater than the wines it actually produces. Our preconceived notions regarding a plot of earth often create expectations that are unrealistic and impossible for a beverage to reach. No one grape growing region is more susceptible to this than Burgundy. The best vineyards of the Cote d’Or have been written about and praised for centuries, but none more so then Montrachet. I have to confess to being obsessed with this vineyard and that my infatuation started long before I ever tasted a sip of its wine. Like many budding wine geeks, I had drooled over the descriptions of great bottles and imagined what it would be like to actually experience them. This can happen with wines from any vineyard, but Montrachet certainly is one of the most alluring. Perhaps the astronomical prices charged for bottles bearing the Montrachet label made me crav...

For 3 days La Paulée raged in the city of San Francisco. The biggest, most glorious celebration of fine Burgundy of the year took over the hearts and minds of the Burgundy's faithful, as they shelled our their hard-earned cash and their best bottles to take part in this unbridled debauchery, one I am most proud and satisfied to have contributed to. I wish I could say I attended all events, but alas my time, money, and cellar are not bottomless, thus I focused on two events - the Burghound Seminar "A Study in Terroir", followed by the Grand Tasting. Hosted in the gorgeous Westin St. Francis hotel on Union Square (where Rona and I had held our magnificent wedding), bright and early at 10am on Saturday morning of March 13, myself and a crowd of about a hundred wine geeks were staring at Allen Meadows (aka "Burghound") - perhaps the most influential wine critic of Burgundy wines in the world, as he moderated the presentation alongside Veronique Drouhin, the Head Wi...

Thursday, March 4, 2010. Second year in a row, Ross decided to conduct the same type of tasting. Premier Cru Chablis side by side with Kistler Chardonnay. Last year's exhaustive analysis inspired a follow-up battle at Green Hills country club . What would this year's inspire? From the mailer by Ross Bott, the organizer: One year and two weeks ago we had a comparative tasting of French Chablis and Kistler Chardonnays from the 2002 and 2005 vintages. Most people who attended the tasting found that, while the contrast was striking, both the Chablis and the Kistlers were outstanding in their own way. It was also a demonstration of how versatile the Chardonnay varietal is when grown in different climates. ... Tonight, we'll repeat this tasting with mostly different Chablis and Kistlers. Both 2002 and 2005 are outstanding vintages in both Chablis and California. In 2002, the weather in Burgundy was largely warm and kind. Bernard Raveneau commented "2002 was the kind of...

On Feb 24, one of my favorite trade tasting events of the year arrived to San Francisco. For background on Gambero Rosso and their Tre Bicchieri event, see my coverage of the last year's event . The world of Italian wine is diverse and complicated. And wonderful. Tre Bicchieri really gives you a chance to sample across the whole of Italy, and to celebrate the variety and the quality all in one place. So without further ado, I will jump straight into impressions. 1. The biggest thing that strikes you at an event like this is just how there is always a great new unfamiliar type of wine showing up. This year, I have to give it to Sparkling. The taste and quality of the Italian sparklers is astounding. And I am not talking about Prosecco (which usually leaves me cold). I am talking about Franciacorta DOCG (in the north of Italy, in Lombardy region) and Trento DOC (in the north of Italy, in Trentino - Alto Adige region). These are serious wines made in the traditional method of Champ...