Author: Greg Wacks
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Horse & Plow and Lutea – Tasting Notes
Most families drive more than one car, and watch more than one television, so why not have more than one organic winery? Suzanne Hagins and Chris Condos have upped the stakes in the his and hers market with their own labels, each dedicated to organically grown grapes. Suzanne founded Lutea in 2004, where she is…
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Resto – Belgian Cuisine And Beer Extravaganza
We were fed up with wine. It\’s a bold statement for two people who are as passionate about wine as myself and Jonathan Russo, our OWJ publisher. But on a recent cold night, that\’s why the two of us found ourselves at Resto, in New York\’s Gramercy neighborhood, where we were about to have a…
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Le Temps des Gitans – Vin de Pays de l\’Herault
The bottle was weird. There, I said it. The glass was clear, the wine was a deep garnet and the cork was synthetic green. The label showed a caricature of two (presumably) French dudes stomping grapes and strumming a Picasso-like guitar. On the back label, the words \”Gypsy Melody\” were written at the top followed…
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The Pleasure of Peasant Wines
When it comes to food and wine, “peasant†hardly means low class any more. To me it means small stone farmhouses in the south of France with honest, rustic dishes to match. You know exactly what’s in your glass and what’s on your plate. A good peasant wine will be a truthful representative of its…
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Organic Wine Journal\’s 7th Inning Stretch
We\’re getting into late August which means grapes all over the Northern Hemisphere are ripening, weather forecasts are being watched more closely, and we here at the Organic Wine Journal are taking a breather. Â Between baseball games and late summer getaways, we\’ve been tasting lots of incredible organic, natural, and biodynamic wines while taking copious…
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Memorial Day Weekend Wine Pick – Cru Beaujolais
Memorial Day Weekend means grills will be fired up, beer will be put on ice, processed foods will be in high demand and, for the most part, wine will be an afterthought. Somehow a decanter of garnet colored wine doesn’t seem to fit in with images of sandals, beach chairs and Hebrew National hot dogs.…
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Jenny & Francois Portfolio Tasting: Winter 2009
There was a moment during the Jenny & Francois tasting and dinner last night that I had an epiphany about natural wine makers; they are all certifiably crazy. Don\’t get me wrong, I\’m surrounded by crazy people in daily life, but after hearing from Christian Binner that he tastes everything he sprays on his crops and…
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M. Chapoutier Belleruche
Not too long ago I didn’t really know the difference between Grenache and Genache. I was blissfully unaware that one was a dominant grape in some of the world’s top blends and the other was the blending of dark chocolate and heavy cream. Now don’t get me wrong, I knew both were delicious, but I…
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Chateau des Rontets, Pouilly-Fuisse 2004
Thanks to Robert Parker, Hollywood and some dude named Kendall Jackson, Chardonnay has gotten a bad rap over the years. It\’s been over-planted, over-hyped, overpriced and truly underwhelming when produced in the United States. In the wrong hands it can taste like sugary grape juice with some toast stuck in, with aromas of an extinguished…
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Olga Raffault Chinon \”Les Picasses\” 2002
Let it be known that at one point in my wine drinking life, the word \”Chinon\” sent shivers down my spine and right through my palate. I loathed the place. Couldn\’t bear to be around anything in liquid form from it. So what did the unassuming Cabernet Franc grape ever do to me..? It stunk. Literally. There was an…