“In victory, you deserve Champagne; in defeat, you need it.” — Napoleon Bonaparte. February is that month—the last gasp of winter keeping us from the rush of spring, the warmth, the good stuff. It’s when gym memberships quietly get canceled, when the gray sky...
A French Retrospective with Julien Miquel
Ladies and gents… we’ve got new French wines on the way! Expect more info on that in the coming...
shrinkage
Last week we delved into the matter of the shriveled grapes, riddled with botrytis, that grow...
infections and why we love them
Wine is an infection. A fungus living on the grape skins (yeast, or, more precisely,...
Survival Tools of the Gaucho
It was late in the afternoon when the gaucho spotted the cow. He steadied his horse and raised his...
The Forces That Give France Its Great Wine
Editor's Note: We still have a limited number of cases from our extreme altitude Calchaquí Valley...
Cab franc
400 years ago, a Spaniard had an affair out in the wild fields of south-eastern France. And so...
Why you should care about Malolactic Fermentation
No essay this week, as our Wine Explorer is focused on finalizing our next collection (stay tuned...
On Lenten Teetotaling (a very bad, terrible, awful idea)
In 2020, a lot of people had a lot of time on their hands. Thus, it came as little surprise when...
Does This Ancient Science Produce Better Wine?
As a general rule, winemakers don’t like to gamble. When they blend varietals, they generally...
A Harvest Report from the Calchaquí
Well, we had planned on regaling you with an explainer on co-fermentation and why its “ancient...
Taste Your New Collection with Julien Miquel
“A stallion of wine – a little wild – but kind and generous on the inside,” says Julien about...
Heir to A Calchaquí Wine Dynasty
Looking out at the Calchaquí’s purple desert mountains covered in cacti, you might miss a little...