Sandy Block

The first time I tasted through a line up of Turley Zinfandels was in the late 199Os and my palate was almost literally blown away. It was a hot summer day, I was tasting barrel samples outdoors in the sun with winemaker Ehren Jordan, and the massive extract and alcohol... Read More

Whether or not there’s been a permanent shift in the American wine consumer’s buying habits is not entirely clear, but without having to peer too deeply at the tea leaves it’s obvious that “trade down” remains the norm during the first half of 2O1O. Just as has been the case... Read More

If Ballard Canyon in California’s Santa Barbara County is as unknown to most wine professionals as it had been to me prior to a recent trip to the region, my prediction is that it will soon be “discovered”. The pending AVA is a source of superb Syrah. Not that Rhône... Read More

Because there’s so much drab, unappealing Chardonnay on the market, sometimes we in the business forget what’s made the grape such a powerhouse. Sommeliers in particular seem to bear a collective grudge against our long reigning champion varietal. There are fine restaurants where aversion to Chardonnay’s magnetic appeal is so... Read More

Based upon my recent assessments, wine from Chablis is as relevant to our market today as it’s ever been. Despite the Recession-fueled downturn in French imports overall and Burgundy in particular, village level Chablis remains viable at a relatively moderate cost and, perhaps more to the point, it provides an... Read More

Port season is upon us and, although it has not been growing recently on the American market, the venerable fortified wine from the Douro Valley remains one of the world’s classic categories that, from a qualitative standpoint, goes from strength to strength and keeps renewing itself with improved techniques of... Read More

As those of us who are professionally involved in wine clearly understand, our business is in a state of constant evolution.  What’s “in” and what’s “out” never remains stagnant.  Part of the industry’s appeal is the fact that there always seem to be emerging regions, that previously obscure grape varieties... Read More

If there is a wine more persistently under-appreciated and under-valued than Loire Valley Chenin Blanc, I’ve yet to discover it. Whether in Anjou or Touraine, the ancient mineral laden soils of France’s grandest river system yield up some magical elixirs from this grape, wines of harmony and contradiction, able to... Read More

Image is all important in the wine business. Unless there are positive identifications with a country or region some of its wines may be of outstanding quality, but consumers and critics alike remain indifferent. What’s interesting is how often the emergence of a regional industry from obscurity is associated with... Read More

. . . the point is that the Marlborough style . . . now appearsto set the standard by which the market measures virtuallyall Sauvignon Blanc.  Sauvignon Blanc’s reversal of fortune from shunned outcast to darling of the American dinner table owes everything to a style that emerged full blown... Read More