GuildSomm

Coteaux Champenois uniquely expresses its terroir. It carries the name and prestige of Champagne, yet it is made without secondary fermentation, the process that defines the Champagne category. Pale-red still wine was once the central style of Champagne. It became secondary as sparkling wine gradually dominated the region’s identity and business, beginning in the 18th century.

Earlier this year, I traveled from London to California for the Napa Valley Wine Writers’ Symposium. Looking through the list of panel speakers, I was surprised to see the British geologist Alex Maltman among the various, and overwhelmingly American, journalists, editors, and writers. I’d heard of him: the scientist who says rock-and-soil talk in wine tasting is a load of rubbish. Maltman is an unlikely wine writer.

By date By view count By comment count Descending Ascending There are no blog posts to show. This could be because there are no posts in this blog or due to a filter.

In this episode of GuildSomm: Into the Glass, Advanced Sommelier Alisha Blackwell-Calvert joins GuildSomm's director of education, Chris Tanghe, to blind taste three high-acid white wines. They discuss the differences between lees and oak aging as well as the evolution of typicity in classic winemaking regions. Alisha is based in St. Louis and is currently the wine director for Madrina.

To many, Sauternes is a sort of relic—a window into the great wines of the 19th century and a region whose style remains eternal. The bottles can, indeed, be time capsules, wines that can easily outlive most of their purchasers and gracefully age in the corners of cellars, with no rush to be uncorked. But such thinking belies the real Sauternes of today: a region whose quiet dynamism deserves attention and renewed understanding.

In this episode, host and Master Sommelier Chris Tanghe interviews Holly Robinson on building a spirits brand. Holly worked in restaurants before cofounding Seattle-based Captive Spirits in 2011 with partner Ben Capdevielle. Together they developed Big Gin, a London Dry style that has won many awards since its inception, then expanded their bottlings to include Bourbon Barreled Big Gin and Peat Barreled Big Gin. In 2016, Hood River Distillers acquired the brand.

The latest update to the Compendium highlights the eastern, German-speaking areas of Switzerland, where about 20% of the country's wine's are produced. Learn more about three of the major wine-producing cantons: Aargau, Graubünden, and Schaffhausen. The newest AVAs in the US, the first established this year, have also been added. Find them on our AVAs page: Nashoba Valley in Massachusetts and Nine Lakes of East Tennessee.

Special Club has always been easier to spot than to explain. In North American wine circles, I’ve heard it reduced to a bottle shape, a prestige tier, a grower Champagne shortcut, or, most simply and not exactly accurately, The Club. Each description contributes to the explanation. None of them quite reaches the point. Over the past few years, I’ve had the rare privilege of tasting alongside every current grower in Club Trésors de Champagne.

There are no blog posts to show. This could be because there are no posts in this blog or due to a filter.

Part of the job of a sommelier is to accurately represent wine regions to guests. So how are sommeliers doing when it comes to the wines of the Russian River Valley? Rod Berglund of Joseph Swan Vineyard thinks there's room for improvement. “The Russian River Valley is large, [but] not monolithic,” he explains. And yet, it's not uncommon to see a list boasting a hearty California Pinot Noir selection but showcasing only wines from one corner of the Russian River Valley.