A MAN POSSESSED
John Terlato is more than a man on a mission. He’s a man possessed. Terlato, the co-owner of Chicago-based Terlato Wines, has spent the last 15 years trying to elevate the family’s crown jewel in… Continue reading
Is Natural Wine Going Off the Deep End?
A WineSpeed reader recently sent me this article: Shitting Good. That’s What I Like About Natural Wine. In addition to the crude title (unless maybe the wine had a weird manifestation of Brettanomyces?), the piece… Continue reading
THE HISTORY OF SAUVIGNON BLANC—Plus, the Musqué Muddle
Sauvignon blanc is one of the few grape varieties that makes delicious wines all over the world. (Most varieties are confined to just a small handful of places). But where did it come from? Who… Continue reading
TEN OF THE GREATEST NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNONS—Plus, the Seven Attributes All Great Cabernets Share
I’ve recently tasted a slew of mind-blowing Napa Valley cabernets—wines that stop you in your tracks; wines that make you wonder how wine can taste and feel that damn good. And of course, these wines… Continue reading
Super Sauvignons: A Whole New Class of Sauvignon Blanc
For the last 20 years, California sauvignon blanc has been mostly stuck in a rut. No matter how many sauvignon lovers prayed for a leap in quality, none came. Until now. The emergence of “Super… Continue reading
WHY DO WE LOVE ROSÉ?
Over the last couple of years, the increase in rosé sales has been so astronomical that wineries you’d never imagine making a rosé are making one. (Harlan and Screaming Eagle are still holding out). The… Continue reading
THE LAST TRUE THINGS—My Commencement Speech at the CIA
Yesterday, I had the honor of giving the commencement speech at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for the students in the Accelerated Culinary Arts Program and Wine and Beverage Graduate Certificate Program. The… Continue reading
AUSTRALIA’S EXCITING MUST-TASTE WINES
No country’s wines have been stereotyped more than Australia’s. When we think of them, we often think: big, thick, soft, and simple. But Australia makes scores of beautifully delineated, complex wines that are both structured… Continue reading
ALL ABOUT SHERRY—SPAIN’S GREATEST WINE
As Champagne is in France or Port is in Portugal, Sherry is Spain’s most complex and labor-intensive wine. It was also once Spain’s (maybe the world’s) most tragically forgotten wine. But in the last few… Continue reading
HERE IT IS: WINESPEED’S “WINE OF THE YEAR”
It’s been a phenomenal year. In addition to all of the wines I’ve tasted and written about for articles in 2018, we chose a different, extraordinary “Wine to Know” each week for 52 editions of… Continue reading