“I think… we’re now more precise.” According to manager Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen, that’s the secret behind the revitalization of Saint-Estèphe’s Château Lilian Ladouys. If Bache-Gabrielsen’s name feels familiar, it’s because he also manages Château Pédesclaux, the Pauillac property that the Lorenzetti family purchased just one year after picking up Lilian Ladouys, and which their team also…
Category: sexy wines
Scandal-Less is More (Flowers Winery Recent Releases)
There’s nothing like a good scandal to encourage a hit of the reset button. Or, in the case of Sonoma’s venerable Flowers Winery, it’s more akin to just hitting the next-phase button. Flowers has always seem to operate a bit under-the-radar by upper-tier California wine brand standards; which makes sense, considering that founders Joan and…
Quadrinity of Trinities (Israeli Wine, Part 2)
It’s in Israel‘s north, along the borders with Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, where you realize that you’re definitely not in Kansas anymore, Toto, viticulturally-speaking. Actually, let’s correct that – it’s not just viticulturally-speaking, it’s just-about-everything-speaking. Certainly the rocky hills in the Golan Heights and Galilee speak to Israel’s unique location as a transition zone between…
Trinity Of Trinities (Israeli Wine, Part 1)
For a year and a half now, I’ve struggled. It’s been that long since I had my feet on the ground among the vines in Israeli wine country, and until now I’d yet to write a word about the experience, apart from a few social media updates and the odd mini-review. The mistake I’d made…