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If I Could Buy Only One – January 21 VINTAGES Release
We asked our writers, “If you could buy only one wine from this release, which one would it be and why?” ($27.95, Dbino Inc.)Michael Godel – Citrus zest and a sexy chalkiness strike first in the Domaine Yvon & Laurent Vocoret Petit Chablis 2020, a flux of radiant energy comes next and power transferred to […] More
Buyer’s Guide to VINTAGES January 21 Release
John Szabo’s VINTAGES Preview January 21: Top California, As Voted by You; Icewine at the Table, Best 2018 Brunellos, Refreshing Aussie Reds and How to Prune a Grapevine By John Szabo, MS, with notes from David Lawrason, Michael Godel, Sara d’Amato and Megha Jandhyala We’ve got plenty of coverage for you in this report, featuring […] More
The Art of Vine Pruning: Getting Schooled in Lake County, California
By John Szabo, MS The most critical vineyard action takes place in the dormant season: pruning. Get it wrong, and your production drops at best. At worst, you shorten the life of a vine and compromise wine quality, while also causing yourself more work in the summer. This past December I took a trip down […] More
National Wine Awards of Canada
Discover Canada's best wines! In 2021, 24 judges tasted over 2,200 wines from 260 wineries across the country to identify Canada's top wines.
View Award-Winning WinesThe Exchange
The Exchange is a club that taps into the world of wines beyond retail stores and delivers a curated, mixed case of top quality wines directly to your door. All the wines are 90pts+ and have been carefully chosen by our panel of critics for their quality and value.
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The main white grape of Burgundy has become ubiquitous in the wine world, and remains one of the most popular of the "international" grape varieties. Planted all over the globe, from the most southerly regions of New Zealand to Québec's Eastern Townships, the Chardonnay grape itself is relatively neutral, with many of the flavours commonly associated with the grape being derived more from the specific climate and geology or the vinification and aging methods than from any intrinsic aromatic components. In fact, the notes of butter and vanilla, so often associated with chardonnay, are actually derived from oak and a process called malolactic fermentation, rather than from the grape itself. With such a transparent character, it shouldn't be a surprise to see it vinified in many different styles, from the elegant, "flinty" wines of Chablis to rich, buttery Meursaults and New World wines with tropical fruit flavors. Chardonnay is also an important component of many sparkling wines around the world, including Champagne.
