Stems are common in Beaujolais where a lot of wine is made using the carbonic maceration technique. And I think about other producers whose wines I have greatly enjoyed in the past few years - Sylvie Esmonin - switched to whole cluster fermentation for the 2004 vintage, and Chandon de Briailles - whole cluster in almost every case. MORE >>

Remembering a 1996 Hagafen Cabernet Sauvignon that I bought and saved until 2004 I knew this was a question I needed to address. I received a very good question from a reader yesterday. The question by Wayne W. is as follows: "One question I still have about red wines is how long to cellar them before drinking. What is your opinion? BAD RULE. MORE >>

It felt like the Beaujolais of Italian wine. We then enjoyed the 2004 Le Raisin et L'Ange Fable with BrooklynLady's hangar steak and my cassoulet. I went back to Black Mountain Wine House , this time with an old buddy, and we grabbed prime seats at the bar for the evening. Turned out to be a real winner. Magdalener Classico ($8/glass). MORE >>

A couple years ago BrooklynLady and I went to a friend's house for dinner and I brought a bottle of 2004 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuv é e Tardive. re-tasted another 05 Beaujolais on my daughter's first birthday when the relatives were in town. Everyone at the table loved it, and no one had a clue that they were drinking Beaujolais. MORE >>

The Vouvray Brut was tasty as usual, but my goodness, the 2004 Vouvray Brut (only in magnum for some reason) was just fantastic. I went to the Polaner Spring Portfolio Tasting today at Gotham Hall in Manhattan. In three and a half hours I made it through most of Dressner and some other interesting wines too. Pinon's wines. Not with M. MORE >>