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Massolino Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda Vertical Tasting & Lunch at La Festa del Barolo
featured, Italy: Piedmont, Verticals & Retrospectives
, Dec 2025
Vigna Rionda holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Barolo lovers. It’s an evocative vineyard, a magical site that has given birth to extraordinary Barolos for the last several decades. The Massolino family have long been stewards of Rionda and all the history that lies within its slopes. This lunch, featuring ten vintages of Massolino’s Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda with Franco Massolino, offered a unique opportunity to explore the nuances of this historic vineyard as seen through the lens of one of its greatest interpreters.
Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio: Barolo Monprivato and Riserva Cà d’Morissio in Magnum
Piedmont, featured, Verticals & Retrospectives
, Dec 2025
Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio is one of Piedmont’s most historic estates. This rare vertical tasting of Mascarello’s iconic Barolo Monprivato and Barolo Riserva Cà d’Morissio, all from magnum, provided an extraordinary opportunity to trace the evolution of the wines across three decades that include many of the estate’s most legendary vintages.
Battle Royale! Bordeaux 1961, 1982, 1990 & 1995
France: Bordeaux, featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Bordeaux featured Verticals and Retrospectives, France: Bordeaux Verticals and Retrospectives featured
, Dec 2025
In this Battle Royale, four renowned Bordeaux vintages enter the ring to see who comes out on top. Take a ringside seat for a wrestling tag match between 1961, 1982, 1990 and 1995. Let the “battle” commence!
El Molino: The Essence of Napa Valley Classicism
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives
, Nov 2025
Despite boasting a history that stretches back to the late 1800s, El Molino remains one of Napa Valley’s most under-the-radar estates. I have only tasted these wines sporadically over the years myself, as the wines are rarely seen. Here, at her family’s historic St. Helena winery, proprietor Lily Oliver Berlin quietly crafts Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of rare distinction. This vertical of the estate’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir back to 1999 revealed a sleeping giant, an iconic Napa Valley winery waiting to be discovered. Readers who admire old-school, classically built wines will find so much to admire.
2015 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: In the Zone
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, napa
, Nov 2025
My annual look at the Napa Valley vintage ten years on was so illuminating. Two thousand fifteen is a vintage I have followed since the very beginning. Several trips during the fall of that year allowed me to see everything from fruit on the vine through to harvest, and then very young wines in tank. Overall, the wines have aged beautifully. Most are heading effortlessly into their second decade. Two thousand fifteen is a terrific vintage to drink now, although the best wines will continue to drink well for some time.
Littorai: The First Thirty Years
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, United States: California
, Jul 2025
From humble beginnings in the early 1990s, Ted and Heidi Lemon quietly built one of the most impressive wineries in the United States. Along the way they influenced countless younger winemakers and spearheaded the development of what are now vibrant winegrowing communities in the West Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley. This report combines tasting notes and impressions from two recent tastings of mostly older vintages, wines that capture all the beauty and pedigree of some of the best sites in both appellations.
One Night in Taipei: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 1995-2017
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy
, Jun 2025
This was an invaluable overview of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s Richebourg—an opportunity to really examine a single cuvée, to observe how it interacts with the heterogeneity of growing seasons that leads to differing results in the bottle. It was also a timely reminder that despite this domaine’s lofty reputation, no bottle is beyond criticism.
Grape Expectations: Burgundy 1978 Retrospective
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy
, Apr 2025
It was a privilege to attend this 1978 horizontal—however, there is always a risk when broaching old bottles, especially Pinot Noir from an era besmirched by swings in quality. Fortunately, scattered among the disappointments is a clutch of bottles that sparkle like rubies in the sand.
Pinball Number Count: Bouchard Père 1923-2013
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, France: Burgundy
, Apr 2025
The second edition of Bouchard Père & Fils’ time travels through their enviably deep library comprised a number of vintages ending in the number “three,” all served blind at the domaine’s headquarters in Beaune. This tasting revealed a clutch of remarkable bottles from forgotten vintages.
The Murakami Wine: Royal Tokaji Essencia 1993-2017
Hungary, featured, Verticals & Retrospectives
, Mar 2025
If Haruki Murakami’s books featured wine instead of whiskey, the protagonist would drink Tokaji Essencia then suffer an existential crisis, pondering whether it is “wine” at all. Maybe this remarkable vertical tasting of every vintage of Essencia ever produced by Royal Tokaji helps answer that question...