Sandy Block

As a dyed-in-the-wool Chenin Blanc fanatic who has been preaching its gospel faithfully over the past five years, it’s wonderful to follow the emergence of the grape from its previous incarnation as an over cropped workhorse, to today’s star performer, in the vineyards of South Africa.  Chenin’s versatility, and its... Read More

It’s amazing how unknown the wines of Alsace remain throughout the United States.  Of all of France’s classic districts, these cool climate northern wines are among the most consistent in quality, especially in the context of their compatibility with seafood.  They’re also remarkably easy to understand because, unlike most French... Read More

SANDY BLOCK, MW The Sassicaia story is well known. Italy’s original, and in many ways still most emblematic, “Super Tuscan,” the wine’s very existence has probably had more indirect impact in elevating the country’s image internationally than any other. It was the first sustained attempt to create a world-class wine... Read More

2O11 has been a challenging one for many Champagne purveyors on the local Massachusetts scene, reflecting larger issues nationally, but there remain areas of vibrancy, particularly in nightclubs, hotels and other luxury venues. Specialty Champagnes appear to be growing in popularity, as consumers begin to experience the diversity of Champagne... Read More

Without a doubt, 2OO9 is the finest Beaujolais vintage that I have ever experienced. As a major fan and long term advocate for the region’s wine, I conduct semi-annual blind tastings to ferret out the gems, but with 2OO9 the quality across the board was so exceptional that deciding on... Read More

Spring is Riesling season par excellence. While I personally enjoy drinking Riesling year-round, from a commercial perspective this is the moment to focus on lighter styled, more delicate herb and floral scented versions, whether they feature discernible residual sugar or not, because of the strong link between Nature’s annual reawakening... Read More

Preliminary figures for 2O1O indicate that both the dollar value and the case volume of New Zealand wine exports to the US are up close to 2O% over 2OO9. New Zealand has now established itself as our sixth most important source of imported wine by value, and seventh largest supplier... Read More

Argentina remained the shining success story among exporters of wine to the US in 2O1O. Another year of substantial double digit growth has pushed the fashionable South American country’s export total here to 6.5 million 9 liter cases, representing a 2O% surge in volume over 2OO9. Even more impressive is... Read More

True or false: Champagne is a wine? Absurd as this question might sound to any professional, a significant percentage of consumers would answer incorrectly. Why? Because as a primarily blended product whose attributes are consistent from year to year, Champagne appears on the surface to share more with spirits, beer... Read More

Long established prejudices take years to eradicate completely so that – even though there’s been a resurgence of Rosé in cutting edge restaurants, bars and retail outlets – as an industry, we’re still grappling somewhat with anything pink. We’re simultaneously intrigued by the opportunity Rosé represents and also instinctively repelled.... Read More