When one of the preeminent names in Burgundy, Étienne de Montille of Domaine de Montille, sought out land on the West Coast of America to craft Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with a Burgundian sensibility, it was only natural that he focused on the Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. (It’s a region that seems to pull at French hearts, as it did with the late Philippe Cambie and his joint project with Adam Lee of Siduri, named Beau Marchais.)
 
And draw more Frenchmen, it did. Étienne shared the news with his friend Rodolphe Péters of Champagne’s top-class grower estate, Pierre Peters, who quickly signed on and became the sparkling wine consultant for the project. Étienne partnered with Santa Barbara-area native and winegrower Justin Willett of Tyler Vineyards to manage the project on site.… Read the rest

 
It’s been nearly a decade since the wizard German wine importers at Vom Boden have picked up a new estate. Whatever could appeal to these masters of the Mosel and beyond, importer who introduced America to the wonders of Keller, Peter Lauer, and Emrich-Schönleber? How is there new ground to trod in the Mosel, after all, a region that has been heralded for centuries?
 
Tucked in the upper Mosel, north of the more famous Mittelmosel, is the village of Thörnich. Wines here have a more Saar-like profile with structured, tense wines. Here, the Ludes family have crafted wines in the same style since Hermann founded in the estate in the 1950s. In the Grand Cru vineyard, Ritsch, the family crafts wines uninfluenced by modern preferences for ripe and plush wines.… Read the rest