Category: Sparkling Wine

Vinography Unboxed: Week of 11/15/20
Hello, and welcome to my periodic dig through the samples pile. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of

The Doyenne of California Sparkling Wine Steps Down
After 42 vintages, 30 of which were as the founding winemaker and CEO of Domaine Carneros, Eileen Crane (seen above

Vinography Unboxed: Week of 12/16/18
Hello, and welcome to my periodic dig through the samples pile. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of

Vinography Unboxed: Week of December 24, 2017
Hello, and welcome to my periodic dig through the samples pile. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of

Why You Should Pay More for Champagne (And What to Buy When You Can’t)
Valentine’s day. Easter. Halloween. New Year’s Eve. What do all these holidays have in common? They each drive some of

Vinography Unboxed: Week of December 10, 2017
Hello, and welcome to my periodic dig through the samples pile. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of

Vinography Unboxed: Week of December 20, 2015
Hello, and welcome to my periodic dig through the samples pile. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of

50 Years of American Sparkling Wine: The Schramsberg Odyssey
The famous sign that welcomes the world to Napa Valley hosts a quote by author Robert Louis Stevenson: “…and the

Small is Beautiful: The Champagnes of Savart
The famous designers Charles and Ray Eames, in the employ of the then young company named IBM, once created a

Krug: A Quintessence of Champagne
When, in 1989, Olivier Krug became the sixth generation of his family to work at the Champagne house that bears

Drinking Time Itself: The Champagnes of Anselme Selosse
The world’s greatest winemakers almost always have something in common with their wines. This would be expected, of course, as

Tasting One Man’s Experience: The Champagnes of Agrapart et Fil
“Lots of winemakers want to have an easy life,” says a grizzled and clearly muscular Pascal Agrapart. “Not me. I

A Brief Video Lesson in Champagne Disgorgement
Compared to normal still wine production, Champagne winemaking gets pretty complicated. Once you’ve made a still wine, you put it

A Singular Expression: The Champagnes of Cédric Bouchard
When I first met the improbably youthful Cédric Bouchard six years ago on his first visit to the United States,
Highlights from Tasting Champagne with the Masters
The best wines often have a quality that I tend to summarize as gulpable. While I am perfectly content with
2014 Masters of Wine Champagne Tasting: September 29, San Francisco
Champagne will begin harvesting their grapes on Monday, September 8th this year, having recently received the official go-ahead from their

The Best Champagnes I’ve Tasted Lately
Champagne cap collection in Reims France © 2013 George Rose. When I look back on my days as a beginning

Vinography Unboxed: Week of October 27, 2013
Hello from the bottom of the samples pile. This is the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some

Tasting the Stars of Trento: A Vertical Tasting of Cantine Ferrari
At the turn of the 20th century, people everywhere set their dreams adrift in the currents of a new era,