Gruaud larose recent bottles

An Exploration of Time: Gruaud Larose 1831-2018

France: Bordeaux, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured

Neal Martin, Mar 2024

Do you want one of the most comprehensive reports on Gruaud Larose ever written? Do you want to know its history and first-hand information from proprietor Jean Merlaut? Do you want 70 tasting notes stretching back in time to 1831? You’ve come to the right place.

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Cellar Favorite: 2017 Domaine Samuel Billaud Chablis Mont de Milieu 1er Cru

cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Burgundy

Neal Martin, Mar 2024

I have praised Samuel Billaud’s wines for around a decade now, going so far as to suggest that they rank amongst Chablis’ premier tier of producers, alongside Raveneau and Dauvissat. A recent dinner at the splendid Lorne restaurant, the same that saw the 1973 La Fleur-Pétrus opened, also witnessed a bottle that ‘sizzled’ with potential.

Bordeaux 2014 firsts

Test of Endurance: Bordeaux 2014 Ten Years On

France: Bordeaux, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured

Neal Martin, Mar 2024

The Bordeaux 2014 vintage has reached ten years of age, an ideal opportunity to look back, both in blind and sighted tastings, and see how the wines are evolving. As usual, there were plenty of surprises, not always positive, however.

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Cellar Favorite: 1991 René Balthazar Cornas

cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Rhône & Beaujolais

Neal Martin, Mar 2024

The Northern Rhône is a region that I would like to know better. There is too little time with Burgundy and Bordeaux under my charge, so I look forward to future reports from my colleague, Nicolas Greinacher. A recent Riesling/Syrah-themed dinner was bejeweled with exquisite bottles and fodder for several Cellar Favorites. This one caught my eye.

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Vinous Table: Caffé Toscanini, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Vinous Table, Netherlands

Neal Martin, Mar 2024

Toscanini should be high on the list for any Italian epicures or oenophiles. The lively atmosphere is worth the entry price alone. Speaking to Pacenti later, he explained how regulars tend to come on Friday night and how customers are exacting in their demands with respect to seasoning, consistency of pasta and so on. At Toscanini, this is no problem. It is all part of the service. Factor a wine list that is so chock full of gems that I considered putting in a request to swap Bordeaux for Italy (only joking). Then you understand why this restaurant has been part of Amsterdam’s dining scene for almost four decades.

Clos des lambrays line up

Merci, Monsieur Amiot: Clos des Lambrays 1923-2021

France: Burgundy, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured

Neal Martin, Mar 2024

Behind every label of an iconic wine lie nameless men and women whose combined talent and labor led to its creation. This vertical of Clos des Lambrays is dedicated to Etienne Amiot, a predecessor of Jacques Devauges, who oversaw the creation of these sublime wines.

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Cellar Favorite: 1971 Staatsweingut Eltville Rauenthaler Langenstück Riesling Spätlese

Germany, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites

Neal Martin, Mar 2024

My adoration for any bottle of wine born the same year as myself is well-known. I sound like a broken record proselytizing the 1971 vintage. But then a bottle sashays along and vindicates my opinion, reconfirming that this is such a trove of outstanding bottles, arguably none more so than Germany.

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Cellar Favorite: 1948 Coufran

cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux

Neal Martin, Mar 2024

I do not wish to sound like a broken record, but allow me to reiterate the most sage advice I will ever dispense on old bottles of wine. Provenance is key. Perhaps even more than producer or vineyard, how that bottle has lived its life determines how it will show once released from incarceration.

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Cellar Favorite: 1973 La Fleur-Pétrus

cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites, France: Bordeaux

Neal Martin, Feb 2024

The latest in the series of “Don’t dismiss a poor vintage ‘til you’ve tasted it first” is a bottle of 1973 La Fleur-Pétrus that was poured blind at the excellent Lorne restaurant in London in January. Several years earlier, at the inaugural “Grouse Club”, Lord Bruce had left us dumbfounded by a 1973 La Fleur-Pétrus from his legendary cellar. This bottle left us equally lost for words.

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2+2=5: Bordeaux 2021 In Bottle

France: Bordeaux, featured

Neal Martin, Feb 2024

Bordeaux winemakers endured a tumultuous season in 2021. It is easy to say that the wines are inferior as a result. But years of experience have taught me that is not necessarily true. Wine can defy logic, as if two plus two equals five. Keep an open mind, and you’ll find pleasant surprises.