General Rantings

[Innkeeper]

French Wine: There is still a lot of French Wine worth persuing. South and Southwestern France are producing excellent wine at good prices. So is Alsace, though the price is creeping up quickly. Southern Burgundy is doing fine, particularly Cru Beaujolais and Maconnais Whites. This past year, we have enjoyed several of the 2000 Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux at or near their peak, but don't do that in everyday vintages.

Aging: We age three or four cases of wine for periods of three to fifteen years from vintage. Most of these are wines are from either Tobin James and Easton/Terre Rouge that come in annual and semi-annual shipments. Usually half to two thirds of the these shipments need age. We also age Californian and Australian Petite Sirah/Druiff, some Bordeaux (Second or below and second bottlings), a little Upper Rhone, a few Brunellos and even a few Loire Whites. Having said this, I freely admit that some people don't like aged out wines. We do. The problem with aging, once you have the proper facilities, is that there is less and less being produced that is worth laying down these days.

Terroir: Agree that this over hyped. I do think it is an element of wine as you allow. I usually refer to it as "dirt" or "earth."

All this "wisdom" is coming from someone who pays less tha $20 for 99% of his wines, and probably half of that at or around $10.