Editor’s Note: We still have a limited number of cases from our extreme altitude Calchaquí Valley collection available (see inventory here). However, supplies are going fast. Click here to reserve your bottles. Every summer, we leave the US for France, arriving…
400 years ago, a Spaniard had an affair out in the wild fields of south-eastern France. And so were born Bordeaux’s two great native varietals: merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Their father cabernet franc, however, was not Bordelais or even French,…
No essay this week, as our Wine Explorer is focused on finalizing our next collection (stay tuned for more information in the coming months). Instead, we’ll hear from Julien on the mysteries of the “second fermentation”… including which wines actually…
In 2020, a lot of people had a lot of time on their hands. Thus, it came as little surprise when a poll last year found booze to be the second most abstained-from pleasure during Lent (at number one was…
As a general rule, winemakers don’t like to gamble. When they blend varietals, they generally ferment each grape separately, then carefully mix the wines to achieve a desired profile. But some vintners adopt a more carefree approach: crush a medley…
Well, we had planned on regaling you with an explainer on co-fermentation and why its “ancient science,” once confined to the Côte Rôtie, is enjoying a revival in the new world. But that’ll have to wait till next week. This…
“A stallion of wine – a little wild – but kind and generous on the inside,” says Julien about Calchaquí winemaker Augustín Lanús’ contribution to your 2022 Calchaqui Collection. Julien goes deep within this “muscular and powerful” wine to find…
Looking out at the Calchaquí’s purple desert mountains covered in cacti, you might miss a little patch of green at the bottom of a canyon – the Quebrada de San Lucas. There, by a small creek, under the shade of…
At the southern edge of the Calchaquí Valley, in the town of Tolombón, the malbec vines are over half a century old. Each year at harvest (our spring) they select only grapes from the best plots for a wine called…
Grapes from a single vineyard at 8,694 feet puts Agustín Lanús’ malbec Salvaje among the highest wines we’ve ever sourced (there are but a handful of higher operational vineyards in the world). We told you, at the end of last…
