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El Molino: The Essence of Napa Valley Classicism
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Nov 2025
Despite boasting a history that stretches back to the late 1800s, El Molino remains one of Napa Valley’s most under-the-radar estates. I have only tasted these wines sporadically over the years myself, as the wines are rarely seen. Here, at her family’s historic St. Helena winery, proprietor Lily Oliver Berlin quietly crafts Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of rare distinction. This vertical of the estate’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir back to 1999 revealed a sleeping giant, an iconic Napa Valley winery waiting to be discovered. Readers who admire old-school, classically built wines will find so much to admire.
2015 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: In the Zone
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, napa
, Nov 2025
My annual look at the Napa Valley vintage ten years on was so illuminating. Two thousand fifteen is a vintage I have followed since the very beginning. Several trips during the fall of that year allowed me to see everything from fruit on the vine through to harvest, and then very young wines in tank. Overall, the wines have aged beautifully. Most are heading effortlessly into their second decade. Two thousand fifteen is a terrific vintage to drink now, although the best wines will continue to drink well for some time.
Littorai: The First Thirty Years
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, United States: California
, Jul 2025
From humble beginnings in the early 1990s, Ted and Heidi Lemon quietly built one of the most impressive wineries in the United States. Along the way they influenced countless younger winemakers and spearheaded the development of what are now vibrant winegrowing communities in the West Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley. This report combines tasting notes and impressions from two recent tastings of mostly older vintages, wines that capture all the beauty and pedigree of some of the best sites in both appellations.
One Night in Taipei: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 1995-2017
Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy, featured
, Jun 2025
This was an invaluable overview of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s Richebourg—an opportunity to really examine a single cuvée, to observe how it interacts with the heterogeneity of growing seasons that leads to differing results in the bottle. It was also a timely reminder that despite this domaine’s lofty reputation, no bottle is beyond criticism.
Grape Expectations: Burgundy 1978 Retrospective
Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy, featured
, Apr 2025
It was a privilege to attend this 1978 horizontal—however, there is always a risk when broaching old bottles, especially Pinot Noir from an era besmirched by swings in quality. Fortunately, scattered among the disappointments is a clutch of bottles that sparkle like rubies in the sand.
Pinball Number Count: Bouchard Père 1923-2013
Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy, featured
, Apr 2025
The second edition of Bouchard Père & Fils’ time travels through their enviably deep library comprised a number of vintages ending in the number “three,” all served blind at the domaine’s headquarters in Beaune. This tasting revealed a clutch of remarkable bottles from forgotten vintages.
The Murakami Wine: Royal Tokaji Essencia 1993-2017
Hungary, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Mar 2025
If Haruki Murakami’s books featured wine instead of whiskey, the protagonist would drink Tokaji Essencia then suffer an existential crisis, pondering whether it is “wine” at all. Maybe this remarkable vertical tasting of every vintage of Essencia ever produced by Royal Tokaji helps answer that question...
2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: A Dark Horse Emerges
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, napa
, Jan 2025
This retrospective of the 2014 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons was one of the most fascinating I have done in a long time. Sandwiched between 2013 and 2015, 2014 has always lived outside the limelight. At age ten, however, 2014 is having a moment. I tasted many exceptional 2014s that will give wines from more renowned vintages a run for their money, and some that will eclipse them entirely.
A Vintage of Transcendence: 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Retrospective
Italy: Tuscany, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Jan 2025
The 2004 vintage in Montalcino will always be remembered for its balance, embodying the pursuit of purity that emerged before the full force of climate change set in. Now, two decades later, how have the wines aged?
Dunn: Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 1985-2014
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, napa, 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.