When I was speaking with Becky Wasserman recently, the Burgundy-based exporter of this and many other wines, she suggested to get to know a Burgundy producer by their Bourgogne rouge, a sort of house calling card for a relatively low entry point. In the case of Domaine Michel Lafarge, I’ve also had the chance to try the recent vintages of his Volnay; the 2006 has great snap and the 2007 has fine balance. So, good advice.

A previous evening Mrs. Vino and I enjoyed the Lafarge Bourgogne Passetoutgrain 2007, “L’Exception” ($24; find this wine). Passetoutgrain is the rare red Burgundy that allows grapes other than pinot noir in the wine since it is a blend that includes gamay. In this case, the grapes are interspersed in in the same vineyard (a field blend, as it is known) of fifty-five year old vines. They are harvested and fermented together. The resulting wine combines the gulpability of gamay with the structure of pinot. While I preferred the Bourgogne rouge, this is still a fun wine–as such, this switch-hitter is good for a relaxed evening of sipping but still a good choice in case any gulping neighbors drop by.

SIPPED: market disarray
“Bordeaux” and “discount” rarely appear in the same sentence. But with Diageo’s retreat from the Bordeaux marketplace, possibly over $100 million worth of wines are looking for a home, including the unloved 2007s. One buyer predicts a “bloodbath” (again); Bloomberg cites “a consensus” among retailers that the deals will last about six to eight months. Will this signal the end of the American market leading the way for Bordeaux?

SPIT: the old way (wine sales)
Another Bloomberg story focuses on the travails of the high-end wine market. One producer in Monterey, Chris Cutler, dropped his distributor and started selling directly, lightweighted his bottles, and lowered the price of his pinot noir from $49 to $35. His reaction? “It was the best decision I made.”

SPIT: Varietal labeling; SIPPED: the old way (winegrowing)
The process of growing different varieties in a vineyard, harvesting the grapes that ripen at the same time, and co-fermenting them is coming back. Check out this piece in the LA Times.

SPIT: oak; BITTEN: the hand that feeds
Seven bloggers went on a sponsored trip to Piedmont to taste some wines made from the barbera grape. They were served oaky “important” wines and juicy, entry-level ones. Their criticism of the first category was so loud that it made paper (local and national)! Tom Maresca, also at the Barbera meeting, has the tale.

SIPPED: social media satire
Blogger Hardy Wallace has a send-up of wineries’ latest obsession, using Twitter and Facebook to hype useless wines. His fictional case in point: Crazy Bear charbono-nay. [Dirty South]

SPIT: the old way (jobs)
Someone has fired up the robo-dialogue video machine again! This time we have an NYC sommelier who wants to quit and move to Walla Walla to start a winery. Check for the definition of winemaking… (via candidwines)

Presiding over forty harvests at Monte Bello in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the winemaker and CEO at Ridge, has seen an almost unparalleled run of excellence. It is rare among the top producers of the world not to hit a rough patch, where something just stops working for a string of vintages. But after tasting several dozen wines from vintages dating back to 1968, it’s clear to me that from vines grown on the fractured limestone, Ridge Monte Bello has been able to achieve this rare feat.

The road to Monte Bello
Born in 1936, Draper’s father was hit hard by the depression and returned to a farm outside of Chicago (Barrington, IL, is now a suburb). He eventually went to Stanford where he studied philosophy; he later worked for the US government in Italy and made some wine in Chile before being hired by the four partners of Ridge—all Stanford engineers—in 1969.

The four-and-a-half mile road to Ridge starts as two lanes. The ear-popping ascent from the floor of Silicon Valley winds under moss-covered trees, eventually becoming decidedly too small for two cars to pass. That’s about when the first vines appear.

As I arrived at the upper winery one day last week, about 2,600 feet in elevation, the rain was falling. There was Paul Draper to meet me and the dozen other journalists and members of the trade attending the tasting, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ridge.* Wearing a Gore-Tex shell, and sporting his signature trim goatee with his polarized glasses, dark in the cloudy glare, Draper smiled warmly.

We went into the cool Monte Bello barrel room where we were given two unmarked glasses. Monte Bello, the estate’s top wine, is a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and some Merlot, but also, in some vintages, some petit verdot. In our two glasses of the just-blended 2009 Monte Bello, we had to discern which one had just 0.9 percent more of one element than another.

The labels that adorn bottles of Ridge wines are models of precision. Retro-chic all-caps, blare the vineyard site; smaller font highlights each grape variety’s contribution to the blend. But nothing is as small as 0.9%. It turned out that the wine that had slightly more lift included the addition of a small amount of press wine. Almost everyone in our group preferred that wine. And it was also the current blend Draper & Co. had chosen.

Fine tuning the blend
The blending process at Ridge occurs in stages. In the February after harvest, most of the wines have completed their secondary (malolactic) fermentation. A group of ten tasters from the winery sits down to blind taste about five flights of six wines, which come from the individual vineyard plots, fermented separately. Each one is given a thumbs up or a thumbs down to qualify for the final blend. (Draper and the Monte Bello winemaker, Eric Baugher, and Lytton Springs winemaker, John Olney, admitted that their votes weigh more.) Interestingly, it is a relative way since only three from each flight can pass to the final round. In this way, each vineyard or block has an equal shot to reach the final wine. In a process known as assemblage, the various samples are then blended and set aside for another few weeks, when a second and final blend occurs.

A crucial part of achieving the consistency at Ridge Monte Bello remains the blind tasting of the various parcels. Draper said that they have also added a blind tasting of previous vintages against the final wine to assure consistency in house style from year to year, something that had escaped them one year in the 1980s.

We got to play along with the assemblage, tracing the blending process in five glasses. The first glass was a big, tight, highly structured wine, St. Estephe-like in its tannins; turns out it was 76% cabernet sauvignon and 24% merlot. Glass two saw the addition of 11% something else that added floral (lavender) aromas—turns out that was 11% petit verdot. The third glass moderated the aromatics but give the wine more depth on the palate—this addition was a dollop of cabernet sauvignon from the Steep Terrace parcel, which almost always makes it in the blend. Another shot of cabernet added more acidity and a final bolt of 7% surprisingly tannic merlot made the 2009 Monte Bello tapestry complete (for now since there’s a final blend assembled in May). The resulting wine, although still tightly wound, has excellent, depth, complexity and aromatic appeal.

The wines that do not make the top wine either end up in the Santa Cruz Mountains wine. At a list price of $42 (although often available from retailers for less), these are quite serious wines for at least a third the price of Monte Bello. The 2006 red has pretty aromas and is approachable now despite a sold core of fine tannins; the 2007 was more tightly wound at this stance and a more serious wine.

Curiously, the wines age in American oak barrels, rather than the French oak that acts as a vessel for many of the world’s top cabernets for their first year or two. Draper said that the site provided a European style of fruit and that with French oak, the wines would be mere imitations of Bordeaux and that wasn’t what he was seeking to do. The team at Ridge works with French coopers to source the wood from three forests of quercus alba (white oak) across the US (he wouldn’t reveal which, citing scarcity of the wood). The staves are aged outdoors near the forest of origin for two years, which provides many cycles of wetting and drying to leech out the harshest elements of the wood. (Coopers had tried to bring the wood to California for aging but it was too dry in the summer for Draper’s taste.)

But the real magic of the winemaking is the fact that there is no magic: winemaking occurs with a non-interventionist approach. In an age when commercial yeasts fire the fermentations of a vast majority of the world’s wines, the Ridge wines all occur with only the natural yeasts. Some say that is risky, but at Ridge it is an integral a part of the program. The yeasts appear in the winery and on the skins of the grape; damaged berries get put in the crusher since they are likely to have an abundance of yeasts as they attracted insects on the vine. There’s no micro-oxygenation and no reverse osmosis. The wines resulting from this winemaking are big and flavorful but also gracefully low in alcohol, always under 14%.

In the glass
And how do they age? Gracefully. We tasted fifteen vintages of Monte Bello over the course of one day and had no clunkers. The younger vintages are all tightly wound and will reward with more than a decade of cellaring; the world’s best cabernet assumes a delicacy and refinement that make it very much worth the wait. Of the younger releases, the 2005 stood out as particularly gorgeous with fresh acidity, minerality and youthful tannin under a seductive wrap of dark fruit.

Of the mature Monte Bellos, the legendary 1970 exhibited a gorgeous nose of delicate tobacco with the wine in a lovely place, mature yet still very much alive. This was my favorite of the pre-1990 wines and my second favorite of the night. The 1988 was really sublime with aromas of alluring mint and tobacco and a pinot-like delicacy. It had extraordinary length; I would like to try against top Bordeaux of the same vintage. The 1992 was also a superlative wine showing beautifully. The 1968 was served at the end of the meal with blue cheese. It was not port-like but, then-winemaker David Bennion left it on the lees for extended periods. Rich and ripe and mature it was a rare treat still showing impressively.

But the wine of the night, in my view, was the 1991. This wine has all the pleasure of top cabernet with age from a superior vintage and producer. That evening, it showed a multilayered subtle elegance, with a beautiful blend of mature fruit. The wine’s beautiful arc lingers impressively.

* For those who enjoy the full disclosure policies of this blog, I paid for my ground transportation on both ends of my trip, as well as my flight; Ridge paid for the hotel and meals. The wines were all from their cellars.

60-year-old cabernet vines at Monte Bello Ridge

Vineyard hazards!

With Paul Draper, both live and on the tshirt from Terroir wine bar in New York City. Draper told me that he went to Terroir where the server, upon seeing him, said that he looked better than in real life than he does on his tshirt. I’m sure that happened to Che all the time too.

Coming up in a future post, answers to the question: can Zinfandel age gracefully?

Things have changed. The 2006 vintage of that same wine, a fuller style of Blaufränkisch, now sells for about $130 per bottle in the U.S.

While Blaufränkisch is hardly a household wine term, it has risen from nothing in 1995 to, well, more than nothing. During that time, growers in eastern Austria, the grape’s ancestral home, have started to take care with the grape to plant it in good sites, reduce yields and stop blending it with other varieties.

Smart moves. I tasted through over a dozen of the top examples at a recent press event organized by David Schildknecht (pictured, right), critic and writer for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Schildknecht suggested that Blaufränkisch is one of the grapes that most transparently reflects the soil and setting where the vine grows but, in non-wine-nerd terms, it’s a grape that delivers in many styles and, thus, could have broad appeal.

When I asked winemaker Roli Velich of the Moric winery which grape was the most apt comparison for Blaufränkisch, he suggested no fewer than three: pinot noir from Burgundy, Syrah from the Northern Rhone and Nebbiolo from Piedmont. I could see the blend of finesse, power and aromatic intrigue that he invoked across the wines that afternoon.

For example, Velich’s old vine 2002 Neckenmarkt ($85, if you can find it), aged 22 months in small, old oak barrels, had an herbal lift to the mature fruits on the aroma and fine tannins that actually could probably age for quite a while longer.

Then there was the lighter style of Blaufränkisch, such as the wines of Muhr & van der Niepoort. In 2002 Dorli Muhr, who owns a public relations firm, acquired the vineyards near the Spitzerberg, a smallish–this is Austria, after all–mountain southeast of Vienna where she vacationed as a child. The 2006 Spitzerberg ($45, next time you’re passing by a Vienna wine shop) has delicate, alluring floral aromas with fresh, vibrant acidity. The 2007 Spitzerberg, with a featherweight 12.2% alcohol, has similar aromatic appeal but more tannic structure. There’s a reason for this:

Dirk van der Niepoort, Muhr’s ex-husband and arguably the most talented winemaker in Portugal, made the first few vintages, including the 2006. But by the next vintage, as the marriage ended, Muhr had to make the wine herself. The couple had introduced the Portuguese method of foot treading the grapes; Muhr now has about a third of her grapes stomped a la Lucille Ball, and over a dozen producers in the area have taken up the method. The idea is to get better extraction without crushing the grape seeds, which can impart bitter-tasting compounds.

And then there’s Blaufränkisch’s ability to age. Winemaker Uwe Schiefer brought an “old” Blaufränkisch along–old being 1999. Such is the Austrians’ delight at drinking their wines young, that Schiefer did not even have any of his own 1999s remaining: he bartered six of his 2007 Reihburg vineyard for a bottle of his 1999 Reihburg, one from a local restaurant and another from friend. While the 2007 was nebbiolo-like with savory tannins, the 1999 was quite delicate, delicious and comported itself in the glass surprisingly like a Barolo.

The only trouble with Blaufränkisch is that even though it’s only been a decade-and-half since the grape had trouble selling, now the wines are pricey and difficult to find.

Schildknecht argued that, like pinot noir, it is very difficult and thus best to avoid making low-priced Blaufränkisch. Fortunately, there are at least a couple entry-level options, such as the Moric 2007 Blaufränkisch (about $22). It’s delectable, with a grind of black pepper on the aroma.

The only trick will be hunting it down, but it’s worth the effort.

A version of this post was republished on Forbes.com.
*UPDATE: Silvia Prieler, daughter of Englebert and the source of this figure, says in the comments below that the actual figure was 200 schillings or about 15 euros

David Hirsch poured me a sample of his 2008 “The Bohans-Dillon” pinot noir at the recent trade tasting of his New York distributor. And guess what: it had a smoky notes swirling around the dark cherry fruit. If you like chipotle or a peaty whisky, and you like California pinot, I predict you will love this wine! (The smoky taste can come in non-blaze years from the “toast” level of barrels.) If you don’t but want to keep it in the Hirsch Vineyards portfolio, then perhaps try one of the 07s, such as the pricier “M,” which is smoke free.

Describing that hot summer when the fires came in July, Hirsch said that “we almost died of asphyxiation.” He added that people like to “drink pinot and talk terroir.” Well, he said, this was the terroir of 2008. By contrast, he said that 2007 was “a blessing.”

Here on the blog, we previously discussed geologists who debunked “minerality” as coming from the soil. But this smokiness in the glass appears to have come from the fires! Putting the “air” in terroir, one might say.

For more on smoke and de-smokifying wines, check out this story in the SF Chron or this one at Forbes.com.

Arretxea, Irouleguy 2005 about $20
This hearty red pairs well with rich foods and cold weather. Although not big and boozy (only 12.5% on the label), the main grape is tannat, which makes wines that are often opaque in their inky purpleness with tons o’ tannins. This wine, from the French side of the Basque Country, is a delicious wintry treat, with brooding notes of black cherries, tar, stones and smooth but substantial tannins. Their white is also very good even if a recent vintage was denied the appelllation (again, a condemnation of the appellation system, not the producer). Importer: Kermit Lynch.

Tissot, Arbois, Poulsard, vielles vignes, Jura 2006 about $17
And if you’re feeling more autumnal than wintry, impress your friends with this natural Poulsard. I tried a bottle and loved it and went back for more. And then I poured it for friends not so into wine, but only after trying to deter them by cautioning them that it was a wine geek’s wine. That just fanned their flames of desire. Fortunately, they really liked it too. In the glass, the wine throws a head fake: light in color and transparent, it also has a pretty, tannic structure. Throw in some notes of dried red fruits, autumnal earthiness and excellent balance with acidity, and this certified Biodynamic, no sulfur beauty may even impress your non-wine geek friends. Importer: Wildman & Sons.

Pinon, sparkling Vouvray NV (about $19): I poured a bubbly in almost every class; this one was unanimously liked. How could it not be? It is gorgeous bubbly with delicious aromatics and a balance between acidity and delicate residual sugar. It will be on my Thanksgiving table–and in a white wine glass.

Hirsch, Veltliner #1, 2007 (about $15): Refreshing, with good acidity and a hint of that snap pea character of Gruner, this wine got lots of thumbs up, particularly for the price.

Produttori del Barbaresco, Barberesco, 2005 (about $33): I poured this wine the first day to illustrate tannins. While the taninns were actually more muted than I had anticipated, the wine was wildly popular. Many Nebbiolo fans were made from a sip of this wine. It does benefit from some air; another bottle that I bought was still going strong on day two.

Domaine Guion, Cuvee Prestige, Bourgeuil, 2006 (about $12): After our discussion online about cabernet franc, the polarizing grape, I had to add this wine to the following lineup. All but four people really liked it (about 90% of participants); I love it too for the good acidity and interesting tannins and have been buying it by the case.

Ridge, Three Valleys, Sonoma (about $23)
This blend of mostly zinfandel fermented with natural yeasts has 13.8% alcohol, refreshingly low for a zin. The class really liked its lushness and didn’t find it as overextracted as some of the other wines. It’s also a good value, available online for less than I paid for the class.

Luzon, monastrell, Jumilla, 2008 (about $8): This wine was funny since it was the cheapest wine we tasted for the day, yet the most popular as people reached for their pens to scribble this one down. To me, it didn’t have a lot of individuality but certainly was not the worst example of monastrell I’ve ever had (ahem, Sierra Carche).

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I recently led a tasting and we were able to put this question to the test. I poured the Domaine Grand Veneur, Cotes du Rhone, reserve, 2007 from a bottle (retail: $14) and a three-liter box ($45) and served them blind in two glasses. (search for this wine)

The assembled group couldn’t really discern one from the other. While everyone agreed that the wine was a good value, some people preferred one over the other but the reasoning was all over the map. Although this sounds like a non-finding, it is interesting that neither format outpaced the other even though one format is decidedly less expensive per ounce/glass.

I look forward to trying this experiment again but it is difficult to find the exact same wine packaged in two different formats. Domaine des Estezargues, Cotes du Rhone 2007 and apparently there’s one from Washington State; hit the comments if you’ve done a tasting like this or know of other wines in both formats for our further experimentation.

I contributed a short piece to Forbes.com about wines that could serve as “ringers” in a blind tasting. Have you ever organized a blind tasting at home (or professionally) and thrown in a “ringer”? Or if you haven’t, which wine would you put in which lineup as a ringer in a future tasting?

He’s not a fan of the grape. Talking about the two top growing areas in the Loire, Chinon and Bourgueil, he writes, ironically: “Virtually all the people I know who rave about Chinon and Bourgueil are wine geeks, the kind of people who champion varieties nobody else does precisely because nobody else does. You can find many of these same people downloading unsigned artists to their iPods.”

Funny, I like great Chinon and Bourgueil but I’ve never downloaded an unsigned artist to my iPhone! I just like them for the low alcohol, high acidity for food friendliness, and the low prices–the “undiscovered” discount. Take the delicious but, yes, slightly herbaceous, Domaine Guion, Cuvee Prestige 2006, which I just bought for about $12.50 (with case discount)–a tasty bargain if there ever were one, but certainly not one for fruit bomb lovers.

I tweeted about the article at 8:56 AM today and the responses came flooding in; here is a selection. (Follow along on Twitter) If you haven’t weighed in, do you love or hate Cabernet Franc? Which actor is the most apt comparison?

gonzogastronomy @drvino ouch! I happen to love cab franc!
candidwines @drvino Your Cab Franc critic cites “cedar, tobacco + vanilla” in the CF he loves. My description of him: “Starts w/ J, rhymes w/ mackass”.
Randall Grahm @drvino There are truly 2 populations of wine drinkers, those who love and those who detest cab franc. One generally wishes to avoid latter
voxinferior RT @gonzogastronomy: @drvino ouch! I happen to love cab franc! (I like it too, but there’s some pretty legit. criticism in that piece)
James Molesworth @RandallGrahm @drvino Cab Franc is an acquired taste. Acquired at birth or never…
Howard Goldberg @RandallGrahm @drvino When I think of cabernet sauvignon, I think of Catherine Deneuve. And when I think of cabernet franc, Lauren Bacall.
candidwines @drvino @RandallGrahm Overcropped, machine harvested Cab Franc is to real CF as January tomatoes are to garden heirlooms: worlds apart.
theconcierge @drvino I think the ‘Globe and Mail’ statement on Cabernet Franc is harsh, there are bad wines made with any varietals
Randall Grahm @howardggoldberg @drvino Deneuve is Burgundy; Bruce Willis is Bordeaux. But I like the smoky, peppery Bacall association w/ cab franc
Randall Grahm @jmolesworth1 @drvino @howardggodberg What gets me is the absolute vehemence of cab franc’s detractors. But francly, I don’t give a damn
megmaker @RandallGrahm @howardggoldberg @drvino Agree Cab Franc is Bacall, or maybe K Hepburn: throaty, acerbic – but what a woman.
tallywineguy @drvino I think pinotage is more divisive than CF. RT There r 2 populations of wine drinkers, those who love & those who detest Cab F

Luneau Papin, L D’or, Muscadet, 1999 About $20
Muscadet is not the first thing you might think of when it comes to mature wine. But from the top producers, it can be worthwhile. I bought this wine from Crush Wine Co in NYC a couple of years ago as a late release from the winery. In the glass, it has a more golden color than most young Muscadet and aromas of delicate honey drops on wet rocks. Totally dry on the palate, the wine still has great acidity and minerality as well as a suppleness of age. We had it as an aperitif with cheeses but would also go well with seafood.

Lopez de Heredia, Rioja, rosado, 1997 About $25
Again, a rose is another category that might not leap to mind when thinking of mature wines. But with this twelve-year-old Lopez de Heredia, it’s practically the current release! If you’re looking for the freshness of a 2008 rose from Provence, well, stick to Provence. This rosado has a pink and amber hue, gorgeous mature, nutty aromas with dried rose petals and a luxurious texture on the palate. The bottle was empty too quickly!

Marques de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay, Gran Reserva Especial, Rioja, 1985
I bought this wine several years ago at Sam’s Wine in Chicago. Sadly, 24 years after the harvest didn’t work for this one and it was over the hill. As the saying goes, there aren’t great wines, just great bottles.

Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou, St. Julien, 1996
Now you might think 13 years on a top is just warming up. And for this wine you’d be right. A friend pulled this out of his cellar recently; he’d received it as part of a farewell, current release case when he left a company in Paris a few years ago. Provenance is particularly important for this wine, apparently, as some consumers have expressed frustration with bottle variation. However, our bottle was on. Still tightly wound in tannins, this big dog is a dark berry, spice, coffee flavoplosion! (Well, at least compared to these others.) Structured and drinking great now, but the tannic vigor on the finish will likely bode well for many years of future enjoyment.

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Despite some perceptions to the contrary, cru Beaujolais wines can be extremely rewarding wines. The region is in flux and home to some leading makers of “natural” wines. Check out my current piece over on Forbes.com! And when you hear “cru Beaujolais,” don’t say “no way!” as a friend recently did.

I mention Lapierre, Foillard, Thivin, Descombes as some of the excellent 2007s that I had recently. What are some of your favorites? Or do you fall in the “no way” camp?

But the bottle didn’t exactly win our friends over to the joys of wine. As much as I liked the wine, its pleasures were still tightly wound in youthful tannins, which are bitter. A wine that has angular tannins is probably not a great wine for the majority of newbies. In fact, I’ve poured young Nebbiolos in some classes and events to illustrate the grip of tannins; most people dislike them but there are always a few people who love them. I think I’ll start polling people to see if it correlates with whether they like black coffee or not.

I was talking with a beer geek (is that what they are called?) the other day and he told me about the IBU, a measure also known as the International Bittering Unit that rates the hoppy bitterness of a brew. Apparently beers can be ranked by IBUs where Bud has about five, an India Pale Ale might have 40 and a Stout might have 60+.

Given that the geekier beers tend to be the more bitter beers, could we say then that Nebbiolo is also a geeky grape because of its bitter tannins? I think so. The same as a sugary latte holds more appeal than a straight espresso, the more bitter the drink, the more of a geek you have to be, it seems. Are we moving toward a general theory of bitter? And what to serve guests who aren’t so into wine…

Produttori del Barbaresco, Langhe, Nebbiolo, 2006 about $19
This wine is such a trip! Light in color, the unsuspecting taster might presume it to be “thin” (the ultimate put-down for light bodied reds). Instead, delicious aromas of rose petal and damp earth great the nose. On the palate, great acidity precedes vigorous but interesting and manageable tannins. A great entry-level nebbiolo, a grape that can often escalate in price quickly. I haven’t tried the ‘07 of this wine yet, have you?
Lot: 8.143. Imported by VIAS

Domaine Sylvain Pataille, Bourgogne-Passetoutgrains, 2006. about $18
Blending Pinot Noir? Say it ain’t so. But the practice gets a big “oui” in the appellation of Bourgogne-Passetoutgrains where the wines must be minimum one-third Pinot Noir with the balance the Gamay grape. The result in this 2006 offering from Sylvain Pataille’s 70 year old vines has lipsmacking fruit and acidity and, at 12 percent alcohol, gulpable. On a warm summer evening (when it’s not raining–grr), try serving chilled to 60 degrees for maximum enjoyment.
Lot tasted: LR 01. Becky Wasserman Selection

Alain Michaud, Brouilly, 2006. about $18
I hadn’t tried this Beaujolais producer before but I threw it in my cart. This straight up gamay (as opposed to the Passetougrains) from the strong vintage 2006 has a slight savory note to it as well as wild strawberries. It’s a bigger, broader style within the realm of cru Beaujolais that has a structured but chewy finish. Lot tasted: L. 02 Becky Wasserman Selection

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And, coincidentally, the August issue of O, the Oprah magazine also has a short piece on box wines. They generously called me in to serve as their expert. You can find it on p. 34 in the gutter, wedged between a giant red stiletto and a full page ad for K-Y liquibeads.

The category is still uneven but the quality also appears to be improving. What’s happening in your neighborhood: Are box wines improving?

Related: “In the NYT suggesting to drink inside the box“