During lunch we are joined by Daniel's nephew Gabriel, a young yet very serious-minded winemaker who has a label of his own and buys grapes from his father and uncles, and Gabriel's father Eduardo who also has Daniel's charm. As we taste the delicious wines (the family produces over thirty wines, we continue to chat. I asked, amazed. MORE >>

Wine & Spirits magazine assembled a group of leading sommeliers, tasted the wines and Rod Smith wrote a story about it. couple of weeks ago, the magazine assembled another group with David Hirsch to taste some of his 2007s–as well as some of the same 1997s tasted a decade ago. MORE >>

I bought a lot of Oregon Pinot when I rediscovered wine about 6 years ago. still love Pinot, but moreso the wines of Burgundy, Cheverny in the Loire Valley, or the Jura. Are there Oregon Pinots that I enjoy today? No, but that's because my tastes have changed, not because they are bad wines. 2005 Thomas Pinot Noir , $45. MORE >>

A French court found 12 executives guilty of selling the equivalent of 18 million bottles of cheaper wine as pinot noir. AFP reports that generic red wines fetched 45 euros (about $62) per one hundred liters while the premium pinot noir fetched 97 euros. Does $9 pinot really taste like pinot noir? 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. The NYT details that at a recent panel discussion and tasting about balance in pinot noir, Lee presented a 13% and a 15% pinot noir of his to the audience. MORE >>