Finding enjoyable and affordable wines these days is not an easy task, and I have therefore decided to make a new effort to highlight these wines and their alternatives. We need to do some soul searching ... and go back to the core ... Why are we drinking these wines? Thirst, lunch, dinner, a …
In the Glass
Pupillin year two … understanding more
This is my second visit to Pupillin and Benjamin Benoit at the estate Le Cellier Saint-Benoit. I was very excited by the first visit where I got some very interesting new wines in the book - you could actually call it an introduction to the red grape varieties that are grown in Jura aside from …
A Revelation in Pupillin
I have visited many wine growers over the years, and these days it takes a lot to truly surprise and thrill me. This is the unadorned truth of being a wine writer. But a few weeks back I was surprised and thrilled to my core by a young vigneron who is creating poetry and music with some …
Tedious or – Worse – Annoying Wines
This week I was planning a small yet, apparently, controversial expansion to the vin d'emotion scale to include the missing bottom end, meaning the wines I don't enjoy, or that are simply bad. This turned out to be highly charged. Calling a wine awful is clearly too much for delicate French …
Climbing the Cru Hill in 2022
The cru hill seems steeper than usual with the 2022s, meaning that there is a significant difference in intensity and concentration as we climb from regional to village to 1er cru, etc. The '22 reds can be charming and forward, and some early-bottled wines I've tasted maintain this lovely energy. …