by Wine Explorer | May 20, 2022 | The Wine Explorers Letter
The poet Keats said of ‘claret’ that it did not, like other wines, “assault the cerebral apartments,” “but rather walks like Aladdin about his enchanted palace, so gently you do not feel his step.” A century and two-thirds later, advertising genius David Ogilvy...
by Wine Explorer | May 6, 2022 | Tasting, The Wine Explorers Letter
“Feels like a wine you’ll find in a Michelin-starred restaurant” says Julien Miquel of our Domaine Aléofane 2019. In case you haven’t yet received your French Collection, Aléofane comes to us from the village of Crozes-Hermitage, which sits on a terraced vine hillside...
by Wine Explorer | Apr 29, 2022 | The Wine Explorers Letter
Our upcoming French Collection has more old vine wine than any other collection we’ve sourced. Call it our “old souls” collection... But is that a good thing? More on that in a moment. But first… Why do wine glasses have stems? This week, resident expert Julien Miquel...
by Wine Explorer | Apr 22, 2022 | The Wine Explorers Letter
Ladies and gents… we’ve got new French wines on the way! Expect more info on that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we’ll take a break from our regular programming to enjoy a short French wine “masterclass” with Julien Miquel… A bientôt les amis! 1. An...
by Wine Explorer | Apr 15, 2022 | The Wine Explorers Letter
Last week we delved into the matter of the shriveled grapes, riddled with botrytis, that grow along the Garonne river south of Bordeaux. But not all shrinkage comes from infection. Nor does winemaking with shriveled grapes always yield sweet whites of the kind found...
by Wine Explorer | Apr 8, 2022 | The Wine Explorers Letter
Wine is an infection. A fungus living on the grape skins (yeast, or, more precisely, saccharomyces) infects the grape, eating its sugars, and producing alcohol. But not all infections are created equal. TCA – the dreaded infection responsible for “cork taint” –...
