Legendary Californian pioneer Chardonnay and Pinot Noir producer Josh Jensen liberates some incredible bottles from his cellar.
California evokes so many surreal impressions and if you have ever been in vineyard country there, you sure end up “Californian Dreamin” – forever. Josh Jensen purchased his Mt. Harlan property in San Benito County in 1974, the same year Mama Cass died – as one great era came to an end another began.
Burghound Unrivalled Passion for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
“The Burghound Phenomenon. Burgundy lends itself to obsessives, what with its hundreds of growers, thousands of named vineyards and maddening variations in vintages. The world’s foremost Burgundy expert – who, thankfully, is also in possession of an acute palate – is Los Angeles-based Allen Meadows… No Burgundy lover leaves home for the retail shop without a copy.” – Matt Kramer, Diversion Magazine.
Asia, the last continent – Jancis Robinson MW (Financial Times May 2010)
“It is no exaggeration to say that Asia has become the focus of the world’s fine-wine trade. But the Asian wine scene is very much more than Hong Kong and China. Japan and Singapore have long histories of connoisseurship.”
Brought to you by The Wandering Palate and Hermitage Wine.
Matt Kramer, Wine Spectator‘s contributing editor and columnist for the magazine both in print and online, “Drinking Out Loud” will be in Singapore with ‘one nightly only’ appearance and wine dinner at…
The Wandering Palate is heading to our Melbourne residence for the festive season and preparations for the Christmas day feast are already well in hand.
Priority of course is procuring the appropriate turkey, and I can tell you after enduring a commercial frozen turkey from the USA for the last three years here in Singapore, we are looking forward to a free-range, chemical-free, wholesome, flavoursome bird (one of the issues Singapore has yet to come to terms with) moreover, at a third of the price!
Hugel Pinot Blanc is a perennial favorite of the hospitality industry. If you are looking for an excellent value crowd-pleaser white wine for your Christmas party, or any party for that matter, you need a good quality Pinot Blanc from Alsace, France.
In the 1980s, Chardonnay would fill this requirement, although more out of fashion than actually delivering the goods. But fashions change and the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) mantra of the 1990s has evolved, broadening and liberating our tastes.
Our Wandering Palate wanders into the Australian gold country of Moonambel-Pyrenees, Victoria, to come up with a favorite chardonnay.
I have been on a chardonnay crusade since writing on the subject in October, 2009, and as I taste through the current vintages of top producers from Australian, my headline “Another Brilliant Chardonnay” reverberates. So indulge me as I write a succession of reviews over the next month on the pick of cutting-edge Australian chardonnays.
Sugarloaf Ridge vineyard is a family owned vineyard begun in 1998 by Dr Simon Stanley. Simon’s daughter and her husband, Julian and Kristin Colvile, formerly long time habitants of Hong Kong, assumed ownership in 2007 and are now on Sugarloaf’s 8th vintage and each one has been award winning! The vineyard is positioned at 42 degrees south (the same as Marlborough and correspondingly in the northern hemisphere, southern Burgundy).
The sensational results of a tasting in Paris more than 30 years ago forever changed the way American wines were considered, writes Curtis Marsh.
America’s most prodigious Bordeaux-style blend – the legendary Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello from the Santa Cruz Mountains – turns 45 years old this year.
Reaching this milestone is only part of the motive for writing this article, notwithstanding that I hail from the same vintage, further inspiration comes from my affinity with Ridge, the 1971 Ridge Monte Bello cabernet was the first American wine I had ever tried, and remains to this day, one of the most profound and indelible wine experiences.
Directly following the New Zealand Pinot Noir Celebration 2010 in February this year, I attended the Nelson Aromatics Symposium, staying with the Finns at Neudorf Vineyard.
I was met at the airport by Richard Flatman, who had just left Two Paddocks in Central Otago to join the Neudorf team. Flatman is one of the most passionate organic and biodynamic viticulture practitioners in the country and clearly the Finns are not resting on their laurels in bringing him onboard, forever striving to improve in the vineyards with a no compromise approach to every facet of making wine.
The Adelaide Hills vigneron Shaw & Smith celebrate their 20th vintage this year, a significant milestone in the relativity of establishing a vineyard and winery in the new world. This may seem a mere blip to some of the venerable generations-old wineries of Europe.
However, the wine-world is a very different place now and the pioneering spirit and determination to succeed in the extremely competitive and demanding wine industry, establishing a brand from scratch and attaining an enviable international reputation shows both extraordinary creative talent and business acumen. I applaud this family-run partnership between Brothers Mathew and Michael Hill-Smith (M.W.) and Cousin Martin Shaw. Bravo!
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