If you were invited to a sumptuous dinner at your friend’s boss’ house and had to bring the bubbly, would you bring a grower champagne or a better-known label? Further, grower champagnes lack the widespread name recognition of some of the big labels so some hosts may discount the unknown. and a lovely arc. MORE >>

The lanky, California maker of pinot noir, chardonnay, and syrah told me at his Sonoma winery that he had his conversion in 2005, after returning from a trip to Burgundy and the Rhone. He tasted the pinot noirs and syrahs he had been making since starting his own label, Copain Wines , in 1999. Thus he decided to change his style. MORE >>

When RN74 opened a couple of years ago, Parr drew attention by saying that he wouldn’t carry pinot noirs or chardonnays over 14% alcohol. Lee then told Parr that he had, in fact, steamed off the labels, so the wine that Parr had just requested to buy was the one over 15% alcohol. Ta-dah! So, what to make of this? American wine MORE >>

Here is what Peter Liem of ChampagneGuide.net has to say about Empriente: Empreinte is pure Cumières, made predominantly from pinot noir and always made from a single year, which is stated on the back label rather than on the front. There is another wine in the portfolio, a wine that has quietly amazed me since the first time I tasted it. MORE >>

Yet before all that we taste the wines of DeMorgenzon, which in addition to the Syrah include a Chenin Blanc (from the original old vines of the estate), Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Winemaker Carl Van der Merwe. This Syrah is absolutely incredible!”. Perhaps from a famous winemaker like Guigal or Chapoutier in the Northern Rhone. News S. MORE >>