Dad’s birthday was only a few weeks ago. Jean-Philippe Delmas seldom travels to Los Angeles. I like cooking. It was truffle season. That quartet of events led to the perfect night to open the 76 year old, 1934 Chateau Haut Brion.
Tuscany comprises 22,990 square kilometers or 8,880 square miles, just a bit bigger than the Snake River AVA in Idaho and Oregon. Yet it offers such a great variety of terroir that it’s silly to try and sum it all up in a single column.
Travelling is about the need to experience a region for what it offers, in terms of unique food and wine opportunities and to step out of the box when choosing what to indulge in.
 Inside the Headlines: Good Grape Jeff Lefevere has a Bordeaux Conversation with Jeff Leve…
Margaux never produces “powerhouse” wines. For this reason it may suffer in comparison with tannic and intense wines produced by the Pauillac First Growths – especially Latour. It does have wonderful purity, class, balance & sophistication.
Finnish diver, Christian Ekstrom, discovered some of the world’s oldest Champagne bottles in a ship wreck. The bottles date from about 1830. It is thought that the champagne was being shipped to St. Petersburg for Czar Alexander II.
While not up to ’98, ’00, ’01 or ’03, 1999 is certainly part of that group. At 10 years of age, these wines are drinking beautifully. Another strong plus for the ‘99s is, they’re still affordable. Even the special cuvees are under 100 dollars.
