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2024: The Year In Review
featured, General Interest
, Dec 2024
A cocktail of vocation, Vinous Icon events, curiosity, wanderlust, an unquenchable joy in meeting friends old and new, an unshakable carpe diem attitude, fitness, energy and an inability to say no meant that a year slipped past in a week, like Christopher Nolan’s "Inception" but in reverse, and with more wine.
Napa Valley’s 2022 & 2023 Cabernet Sauvignons
featured, United States: California
, Dec 2024
Napa Valley is very clearly at an inflection point of tremendous change on many levels. Shifting consumer preferences, vintages with markedly different and at times challenging conditions, and an evolving market are all topics that are front and center in any discussion of Napa Valley today. “May you live in interesting times,” the ancient proverb says. These are definitely interesting times. My annual report covers the bottled 2022 Cabernet Sauvignons and the nascent 2023s from barrel.
2023 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer: A Riesling Race Against Rain
featured, germany: Mosel, Germany: Saar, Germany: Ruwer
, Dec 2024
The slopes that drop steeply to the meandering Mosel in the Rhenish Slate Massif received their fair share of sunshine and rain in 2023. While the first half of the growing season made many fear a repeat of the drought conditions of 2022, summer rain arrived with all its concomitant factors. Initially welcomed with relief, ripening soon accelerated, threatening to split berries and attracting the wrong kind of rot. Once again, flexibility and agility were of the essence, and selection was the name of the game. Where 2022 was fine-boned, 2023 is juicy and exuberant. Lovers of Spätlese will be especially happy with the 2023 Rieslings.
Cellar Favorite: 1808 Braheem Kassab “SS” Sercial Madeira
Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Dec 2024
Continuing last week’s article on Vintage Ports from Raby Castle, I now move my attention to two exceptional Madeira wines poured at the same lunch.
‘Tis The Season for Sparkling Wine
featured, Italy
, Dec 2024
The holiday season is prime time for sparkling wine consumption and gifting. While consumers have many choices, Italian sparkling wines offer tremendous diversity and value. Think outside of the box and reap the rewards.
New Releases from the Tuscan Maremma
featured, Italy: Tuscany
, Dec 2024
My annual report on the Tuscan Maremma takes an in-depth look at wines produced along a vast swath of land on the coast that stretches more than 100 miles (160 kilometers), starting in Grosseto and moving north all the way to Pisa. This expansive region encompasses numerous appellations, each of them quite distinctive. Overall, I was very impressed with the quality of what I tasted.
Cellar Favorite: Vintage Port in Excelsis 1924-1950
Cellar Favorites, cellar favorite
, Dec 2024
Port and Madeira have been vinous passions of mine for many years. I recently tasted seven exceptional fortified wines from the cellar of Raby Castle in County Durham in the north of England. These wines were kept in impeccable conditions, unmoved for their entire lives.
The Vinous 2024 Holiday Gift Guide
featured
, Dec 2024
In this year's Vinous 2024 Holiday Gift Guide, Antonio Galloni writes, "Finding that perfect holiday gift can be a challenge. This year’s Vinous Holiday Gift Guide highlights some of our favorites, including stocking stuffers, glasses, maps, books and more. Whether you are shopping for someone who is new to wine or for a savvy collector, we’ve got something for everyone."
Better Late than Never: The 2022 Vintage in Washington State
featured, United States: Washington
, Dec 2024
My ears perk up with excitement when I hear of cool, extended growing seasons in any region. So, how did Washington State producers fare in the idiosyncratic 2022 vintage? Success wasn’t easy to come by, but it also wasn’t unattainable.
Dunn: Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 1985-2014
featured, napa, Verticals & Retrospectives, United States: California
, Dec 2024
I have always been drawn to archetypes. Reference points. Wines that are standard bearers for their variety, appellation and/or style. Perhaps that is a vestige of my musical training, but there is something about classics that has always spoken to me. In Napa Valley, few wines embody those qualities more fully than Dunn’s Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. This tasting provided a fabulous opportunity to revisit a wide range of vintages going all the way back to the 1980s.