Thomas Jefferson was the first distinguished American connoisseur of wine.  He travelled widely throughout Europe, tasting and collecting wines, and became particularly enamored with the wines of France during his appointment as Minister to France between 1784-1789.  He would later plant cuttings of vitis vinifera at Monticello, unsuccessfully, and build a dedicated wine cellar to store the international wines he imported.  The wine cellar at Monticello was restored and re-opened to the public just last year.
Jefferson appreciated the finest Bordeaux wines, recording upon his visit to Chateau Haut-Brion on May …

Women don’t make better wine, or more feminine wines, they just have a different approach.  As I wrote last year, consortiums of women winemakers like Wine Entre Femme were “borne out of the desire to reach out to other women and do what we do so well – help each other.”
In France, there is an organization called Femmes de Vin (Women of Wine) which consists of regional groups of over 90 women winemakers from Burgundy, Beaujolais, Rhone, Provence and Languedoc, among others.  They forged a unified front at the recent …

It only takes 10 days to get a real sense of the unpredictability of Burgundy weather and why vintages matter so much here.  Unlike Bordeaux, whose climate is relatively moderated by its coastal location, Burgundy is semi-continental with only about 25″ of rain per year – much less than Napa Valley’s average.  But unlike Napa Valley’s predictable rainfall during the winter and spring, Burgundy’s precipitation can also fall during the growing season – and with force.
Until the day I arrived on June 4th, Burgundy had been experiencing a two-month “drought” …

The adjective that most commonly precedes chardonnay and pinot noir wines is “food-friendly” and when one travels to the cradle of chardonnay and pinot noir wines – Burgundy – you only have one thought:  food.  Since Burgundy vineyards cover a distance of about 150 miles north to south, one doesn’t need to travel elsewhere to find a wide range of wine styles – light to full-bodied, oaked or not, everyday to complex -  that will pair with almost any dish.

The classic dishes to try when in Burgundy include jambon persille …

Americans are appreciating Beaujolais more than ever for its fresh, fruit-driven and lower alcohol red wines at an attractive average price of $9.  And consumers are discovering Beaujolais beyond the tutti-frutti “Nouveau” style with basic Beaujolais now representing 49% of U.S. sales vs. 28% for Nouveau.  The remainder are top of line Beaujolais-Villages which sells for around $13 and the Beaujolais Crus averaging $17.  These are tremendous values given the high cost of mandatory hand-harvesting – the only appellation outside of Champagne to require this – and low authorized yields …

Chablis, the home of the original un-oaked chardonnay, has always been near the upper limits of vine-growing at the 48th parallel.  It is the classic cool-climate region where spring and autumn frosts are the greatest viticultural risks and vintages really matter.  In addition to its northerly latitude, Chablis’ vineyards lie on both banks of the narrow and cold Sereine River and chilling winds from the Morvan Mountains in Burgundy contribute to the cold.  Vines are trained low to capture as much warmth from the ground as possible and the best sites are on south-facing slopes, up …

The chardonnay wines of Chablis are pure, precise wines, unburdened by the use of new oak.  Among the best winemakers in Chablis is William Fevre, whose wines are virtually transparent in their expression of terroir.  William Fevre makes the full range of Chablis wines, from Petit Chablis to Grand Cru, with over half of its 118 acres in Premiers and Grands Crus.  At the helm is Didier Seguier, who was brought in by the owners of William Fevre, the Henriot family of Champagne and Burgundy.  Didier’s basic philosophy is:  clean …

Chardonnay is the world’s most beloved wine.  While technically a cool climate grape, chardonnay can be, and is, grown everywhere, taking on the personality of the terroir where it is grown.  Amongst all the international grape varietals, chardonnay can be a relatively neutral grape in flavor, acidity and body, which is one of the reasons winemakers use the toolbox to add their own signature to the wine.  One of the main styles of chardonnay made in New World wine regions are those which go through full malolactic fermentation and aged in a percentage …