Kogod Wine Merchant (2025)

17/01/2025

Zarate & Pomares: Albariño Royalty

Perhaps no producer has done more over the last forty years to move high-quality Rias Baixas Albariño into our consciousness than Zarate's winemaker, Eulogio Pomares. Along with the 1707-founded Zarate, Pomares also has a personal, epoynymous winery that immediately moved into the top echelon of our Albariño selection when we tasted a couple years ago. Now, Zarate and Pomares are two names we give open arms to when allocations are set from these small estates.

It's in the classic zone of Val do Salnés where we see the top tier Albariños today. Here, working with various old vine vineyards, Eulogio Pomares employs organic and biodynamic farming, and all plantings are done through the labor-intensive but unrivaled selection massale method, using the estate's oldest vines for propagation. Native yeast ferments and only sulfur additions at bottling. These sleek and defined Albariños are open and expressive upon release, but they also have the structure to age and give us their best after years of developing in bottle.

17/01/2025

Timeless Napa Valley: Snowden The Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

It is common to find jaw-dropping hillside vineyards beyond each weave and turn of Napa Valley's roads. However, finding winemakers who live up to the landscape's drama by pursuing balanced, nuanced, and site-specific wines is more of a challenge. Snowden Winery's Diana Snowden Seysess typifies this quality like few others in the valley do, and the winery's history explains why the personification of place is her ultimate intent.

Diana grew up in Napa Valley and graduated from the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology program. In 2003, she became the oenologist at Domaine Dujac and worked alongside her now-husband, Jeremy Seysses, crafting some of Burgundy's most celebrated wines. Her time between Napa and Burgundy brings extraordinary perspective. These wines re-shape how Napa Valley speaks to a sense of place.

Snowden eschews many winemaking practices that have become commonplace today. No cultured yeasts are employed, no enzymes to enhance color, no "bleeding" of the must for concentration, no fining, and no sterile filtration. Diana presses off the skins when dry rather than ongoing maceration to increase density and extraction. The wines never see more than 50% new French oak.

The Snowden Ranch began in 1878 after the Homestead Act encouraged the settlement of new agricultural lands in the valley. The Snowden family took control of these vineyards in 1955, planting different parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon. Through the 1980s, the family worked closely with Warren Winiarski of Stags Leap Cellars to improve their vineyards. Finally, Snowden Vineyards produced its first wines from the family estate in 1993.

16/01/2025

Bona Fide Naturalist: Werlitsch Ex Vero III

Wineries like Werlitsch in Austria's Styria region perpetuate the dreamy biodynamic farm vibes we've seen springing up in Eastern Europe. Sure, the scenes are breathtaking and make for a good selling point, but what winemaker Ewald Tscheppe produces from his opok-rich soils restores our faith in the far reaches of natural wine. Werlitsch is on the shortlist of natural producers you need to know.

"Ex Vero" is a three-part series showcasing a blend of Morillon (aka Chardonnay) and Sauvignon Blanc on varying soil compositions as you ascend Werlitsch's steep hillside vineyard. If we had to draw a comparison, they're reminiscent of Jura or white Burgundy but gone rogue, with visceral energy and the slightest noble reduction.

Today, I'm happy to offer the 2018 Ex Vero III. Ewald farms 8 hectares of vines and divides them into three categories. Ex Vero I comes from the bottom of the slope. Ex Vero III from the middle of the slope. And, Ex Vero III comes from the steepest part of the vineyards where very rocky soils impart austerity but also great structure for complexity and aging––the most dynamic of all three.

The vines grow on limestone and clay soil rich in minerals and marine fossils, which locals call "opok." Truly terroir-driven, these wines stand apart from anything you'll come across in Austria or elsewhere. Another rare bottling by Ewald is his Freude ("joy") ––70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Chardonnay, Freude's grapes are fermented on their skins for extended periods of time and bottled in clay.

Ewald's journey into biodynamics began in the early 1980s while studying wine. A true disciple of the naturalist movement, he firmly believes in the supremacy of nature. This belief is reflected in his winemaking practices—gravity-flow, natural yeast, and no sulfur. His dedication to applying biodynamics to his family's estate, which is also home to fruit trees, wild herbs, vegetables, and forests, is truly inspiring.

14/01/2025

Barolo Bravado: 2020 Giuseppe Rinaldi Brunate

We received a small allocation of the 2020 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo Brunate, and we also have pristine back-vintages from several eras: Battista, son Beppe, and now daughters Carlotta and Marta. But the main show is the 2020 Brunate release, which, as Antonio Galloni writes below, is emphatically stellar.

For me, Giuseppe Rinaldi is part of the big three. Barolo's Jordan, Kobe and Lebron. With neighbor Bartolo Mascarello, and Monforte's Giacomo Conterno, I reach for these three first because they always deliver––current releases or bottles with forty years of age.

The Barolos at Rinaldi are defined by the Brunate bottling. Always dark, with classic notes of tar, roses and mint, and the fresh Nebbiolo fruit is very much balanced by some hoison and game. Techniques are the same here since the early 1900s, with long macerations on the skin and aging in large botti.

The Giuseppe Rinaldi wines first appeared in 1921. But, it was much later, during Beppe's lifetime, that the world's attention turned toward Piedmont. Beppe's spirit is immortalized more than the legendary wines he produced. Sadly, he passed away in 2018, but he had several years to see his daughters, Marta and Carlotta, continue to raise the bar.

14/01/2025

Burgundy's New Wave: Domaine Didon

David and Naima Didon are today's most exciting example of Burgundy's new generation. Coming to fruition in 2017, they grabbed our attention with their fresh and seamless wines crafted amid increasingly warming global temperatures, where these two traits are more elusive than ever. The inception story starts at an old farm in Chassey-le-Camp in Côte Chalonnaise, in Bouzeron––the only village whose legal status belongs solely to Aligoté. David is a veteran viticulturist, and after spending ten years consulting for Etienne De Montille in Volnay and time in the cellar with Julien Altaber, Domaine Didon was formed.

David and Naima's two-hectare domaine relies on organic and biodynamic farming for Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and Aligoté. Their unique setting features dense yellow limestone on an east-facing slope, historically renowned as the best terroir in the village. Farming is done by horse and hand, without the use of tractors or heavy machinery, preventing soils from becoming overly compressed.

They choose a hands-off approach in the cellar while still respecting and embracing new and alternative techniques. Whites are all whole bunch pressed, and the reds see a short 10-day maceration on skins. Wines are fermented in a mixture of vessels, including amphora, barrels, and fiberglass. All wines spend about a year on lees before bottling and remain unsulfured whenever possible. Like the best wines from this natural protocol, you don't consider them natural when you taste them––It's only their intrinsic connection to the fruit on the vine, with finesse and freshness, that captures the best qualities of everything natural wine done correctly.

11/01/2025

Tuscany lovers are likely familiar with Radda because of Montevertine’s Le Pergole Torte. They have brought worldwide attention to this small village, and for good reason. However, Chianti enthusiasts are now turning to another name: Paolo Cianferoni of Caparsa. These 100% Sangiovese wines are quickly gaining a prominence at Michelin-starred restaurants, and they offer some of the best value in Italian wine today.

Chianti from Radda is distinctly known for its elegance and finesse, and it’s no different in the case of Caparsa. Though traditional in every sense, Paolo’s natural-leaning tendencies and his devotion to preserving his estate’s sense of place—the flora and fauna, microorganisms, and soils, as Paolo says—truly shine through in bottle.

From the same importer who has brought us our favorite Italian discoveries in recent years, like Amorotti and Paso Delle Tortore, Caparsa is our latest reference point for Radda. They’re pure, vibrant, and have a quiet but fierce wildness too. Rosso di Caparsa, which only sees cement, is high-toned and cherry fruit-forward––it's super elegant and refreshing it its crunchy fruit profile that's pure and bright.

Mimma is a darker, more concentrated and deep expression of Radda. At the same time, it has levity and salivating acids that keep this Sangiovese focused and precise. Mimma is akin to Montevertine's Rosso di Toscana, as Rosso di Caparsa is to Montevertine's Pian del Ciampolo.

The Cianferoni family has been growing Sangiovese in Radda for as long as its more famous neighbors. Paolo’s father, formerly a professor at the University of Florence, purchased and planted vines at Caparsa in the 1960s. Still impacted by World War II, much of Tuscany lay abandoned, but the Cianferonis stuck to their inclination. Paolo, with his wife and children, took over in 1982 and introduced organic farming. Link in bio to purchase.

10/01/2025

X to the Novo: 2022 Walter Scott Apex Chardonnay

Walter Scott has set the standard for Oregon Grand Cru with their X Novo and Lucille Chardonnays. I've been humbled one too many times by tasting these in a blind lineup amongst Lafon, Roulot, Raveneau, and PYCM and been sure that it's one of these Burgundy greats in my glass, only to glimpse the unmistakable Walter Scott label's reveal.

For those who don't know, Ken and Erica Pahlow are the couple behind the Walter Scott label. Ken's long-standing annual harvest visits working alongside Dominique Lafon have left a mark. The couple's Chardonnays elicit Burgundy's mineral precision and noble reduction. Oyster shells, lemon zest, and mouth-watering salinity are at the forefront, but like Lafon's brilliant whites, these have that extra gear where fruit deepens and the richness picks up on your palate, and then on the finish, you're left with threads of finely crushed stones. It's the kind of combo that I've come to obsess over in Chardonnay, and these are the first whites I recommend when Burg-enthusiasts come calling.

X Novo is the vineyard that always captures my attention the most from Ken and Erica, but more recently, their Lucille bottling has come to compete in my eyes. Lucille hails from the oldest vines on the Freedom Hill vineyard, where Ken began working in 1995. Both wines offer the weightlessness that's a prerequisite for being mentioned alongside the Burgundy legends above.

08/01/2025

Domaine Jamet: Côte Rôtie Smoke Show

If you've long loved Northern Rhône Syrah, Domaine Jamet's label may very well be the first image that comes to mind. While the brothers split their holdings in 2013, the tradition and grandeur of the domaine's style stayed with Jean-Paul, his wife Corinne, and now son Loïc, and they've kept the iconic label.

As trends have pushed many of the appellation's growers to take a step towards modernity by de-stemming, using smaller new wood barrels, and even leveling off the steep terraces to limit the need for hands-on work, this domaine has rejected each. The spicy, graceful, and granitic core of Domaine Jamet's wines has remained intact for decades, continuing to serve as the model for artisanal, time-honored Côte Rôtie.

These magically sculpted wines hit all the high notes this northernmost appellation of Syrah can achieve. Dark raspberry, blackberry, licorice, black pepper, bacon fat, lavender, smoked meats, and olive tapenade––the quintessential traits that separate Côte Rôtie from its neighboring appellations. The coolest and most Burgundian zone of the Rhône, Côte Rôtie––epitomized by old-school icons like Domaine Jamet––is a true paradise for Syrah purists.

Today's offer on the 2021 vintage evokes the brilliance of the legendary 1988, with its perfume and ethereal personality in this cooler vintage. It's a testament to the family's unwavering commitment to time-honored methods that have placed this domaine as the cornerstone for Syrah enthusiasts worldwide.

03/01/2025

Etna Rosso Royalty: Salvo Foti's I Vigneri

With so many exciting producers on Mt. Etna, it can be hard to pick favorites. With that said, Salvo Foti's I Vigneri estate is more than the top example of Etna or Sicily––It's one of the world's great wineries.

The flagship wine of I Vigneri is the Etna Rosso, comprised of 90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Nerello Cappuccio. At $42, this is the first wine I'd pour to showcase Mt. Etna. Every year we buy every single bottle we are allocated from the Godfather of Etna, Salvo Foti.

The top wine from Foti has long been his Vinupetra, coming from just a single hectare of 100-plus-year-old vines on Etna's north side. At 2,300 feet, these are some of the highest-altitude vines in Europe. Recently, Foti created a new cuvée, Vinupetra "Viti Centenarie", which taps the very oldest, ungrafted vines––the rarest wine of Sicily.

Nerello Mascalese sees intense sun exposure, but the low temperatures at night keep acidity very high and allow these reds to walk that tightrope between concentrated, ripe fruit and a disciplined frame of structured minerality. In Foit's hands, Nerello Mascalese dazzles the senses with its transparency and ethereal nature on one end and powerful concentration on the other. Wines that find a harmony between grace and power are not easy to find, but this quality is universal throughout Foti's lineup.

Salvo Foti's impact on Etna as a wine region is tough to summarize in a few paragraphs. For many years, his work was tied to other top estates like Biondi and Benanti, serving as an oenologist and vineyard consultant. In 2001, he began focusing on his own project, I Vigneri.
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27/12/2024

Ribera Revitalized: Dominio del Aguila "Picaro"

Ribera del Duero is hot. The cooling effects of the Atlantic don’t hold the same influence here as they do in Rioja, home of Spain’s classically age-worthy red wines. The drastic temperatures throughout the year yield hearty, concentrated wines. Routinely, they're framed with the markings of new French oak, and it takes years to reach proper maturity. Names like the lauded Vega Sicilia and Pingus define the perception of wines from Ribera.

In contrast, Jorge Monzon and Isabel Rodero have been making elegant and refreshing wines at Dominio del Aguila since 2013. The real cellar gem from Jorge is the Picaro, a high-toned, red fruit-driven wine of subtle spice, speaking to the concentration of old vines while providing a refreshing experience. This rogue amongst the big and bold holds its own with a welcome new spirit of Ribera. And it’s not hard to envision glasses of lightly chilled, crisp, concentrated, ruby-colored Picaro providing relief from the blistering summer’s heat in Ribera.

While other estates possess more storied reputations than Dominio del Aguila, the small, considerate project should by no means be excluded from conversations regarding the region's best and brightest. Jorge excels in showcasing the understated brilliance and dynamic presence of wine from Ribera del Duero. He's done the utmost to harness the power of the region’s diurnal shifts, capitalize on the sunshine and shade, and create wines of character and place.

27/12/2024

Diamond of Le Mesnil: Champagne Pierre Péters

While Les Chétillons marks Rodolphe Péters' benchmark single-vineyard, single-vintage wine, the rare bird that is L'Etonnant Monsieur Victor is a very different expression but with similar pedigree. Victor is an equal-parts blend of the best vats of the perpetual reserve started in 1988 and the best parcels of the single-vineyard Chétillons. It is aged for 6 years under cork. The TB.16 version just arrived this week.

And, no offer on Pierre Péters is complete without mention of Rodolphe's flagship cuvée, with insider information on large formats...

Cuvée de Réserve, below in bottle and magnum, is a reference point for the Côtes de Blancs. It’s 100% Chardonnay sourced from 63 parcels (all in Grand Cru villages) supplemented by the perpetual reserve. The reserve contains wine from benchmark vintages like 1988, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996. About 65% of this Chardonnay completes malolactic fermentation, though it can rise to 80% in cooler years. In ripe years, such as 2003 and 2009, the partial blocking of malo maintains tension and structure. Magnums are secretly comprised of vintage L'Esprit.

19/12/2024

Comando G's Garnacha from the ancient hillsides above Madrid is the most exciting Spanish red I've ever encountered and perhaps the most memorable vineyard visit of my life. The reflection in bottle of Garnacha (Grenache) sits in elite company with the likes of Chateau Rayas of Chateauneuf du Pape.

These wines are similar in their silken texture and focus on freshness to top Cru Beaujolais, yet with the very different complexity and drama of the benchmark 100% Grenache estate, Chateau Rayas. The Comando G wines are true to their Garnacha roots, with ripe strawberry, plum, and a wild incense spice, yet streamlined to reveal a brisk spine and chiseled rock minerality.

Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia became friends in college and, after graduation, worked for wineries around Madrid. Rumors spread about plots of old, wild vines growing high in the hills of Sierra de Gredos. The duo leased the vineyards, implemented organic and biodynamic farming, and began producing these micro-cuvées under their label.

The range of terroirs show distinction in bottle, but the common thread is the very fine tannins and translucent personality. There's no Spanish estate today that reaches the same level of precision and freshness as Comando G.

18/12/2024

Alt Rock Champagne: Vouette & Sorbée

Bertrand Gautherot's Vouette & Sorbée epitomes Aube Champagne's avant-garde. Since planting his vines in 1986 and bottling his first champagne in 2001, he has stood as the shepherd for this southern zone's revival. Certified biodynamic in 1998, his 5-hectare estate covers three vineyards of the same soils commonly found in Chablis to the south: Kimmeridgian and Portlandian.

In the small village of Buxières-sur-Arce from this most southern zone of Champagne, a little more warmth and sunshine makes these non-dosage wines anything but austere. They are incredibly charming and enveloping upon release and hard to resist opening. However, some of my most memorable experiences with champagnes have come at the hands of aged Vouette & Sorbée. There is nothing to compare them to in the Aube, Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, or the Côte de Blancs.

Many have dubbed the 100% Chardonnay Blanc d'Argile "baby Selosse," and I can see why with its ripe and complex waxy yellow fruits with slight oxidative notes that are countered by intense salinity. At the opposite end of the cellar, you'd find the 100% Pinot Noir Fidele, which carries red berry fruits with supreme underlying mineral tension. And, Extrait (100% Pinot Noir). All wines are produced in very small quantities with low sulfur additions at bottling.

17/12/2024

Flair Meets Precision: Champagne Frederic Savart

Frederic Savart's style of champagne from the Montagne de Reims won over a fervent fan base seemingly overnight. Savart is avid about keeping terroir expression the primary objective, but, unlike many who walk that high road, he brings a flair and delicious factor that's immediately compelling.
While Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide receive most of these small-production gems, we're happy to have this new allocation.

Located in the Premier Cru village of Ecueil, Savart's four hectares have distinct sandy topsoil above clay and chalky bedrock—the main reason why finesse is the first thing you'll recognize. Also, in the cellar, larger format aging in wood brings an oxidative influence that's all about soft contours of texture and not the flavor of wood. Waxing poetic is easy, but the ex*****on is very difficult.

Savart's champagnes are among the rare breed that makes their brilliance known upon the first sip. They are low in dosage and brimming with energy, and each cuvée has a unique and luscious fruit profile.

14/12/2024

Jura Through the Lens of the Marquis: Domaine du Pélican

The history and worldwide reputation of Burgundy and the Jura couldn't be more different. While Burgundy's vineyards have been carefully delineated over centuries, and pricing has placed them atop the most collectible fine wines in the world, the Jura has remained quietly tucked in a sleepy corner of France an hour's drive east. Jura certainly has its enthusiasts, but the wines have been sold in France for the most part. One evening at a Parisian restaurant, a blind tasting of a single wine set in motion a series of events that may ultimately be a turning point for the Jura.

Guillaume D'Angerville, of Domaine Marquis d'Angerville in Volnay, is at the helm of one of Burgundy's elite and storied estates, with roots dating back to 1507. It was at this Parisian restaurant Guillaume asked the sommelier to pour him a glass of wine blind - a regular request of his. The one rule Guillaume had this evening was that the wine must not be from Burgundy. The sommelier pours, Guillaume takes a sip, pronounces it terrific, but that the sommelier had broken the one rule, no Burgundy! The sommelier grins and reveals the wine, Stéphane Tissot's Bruyères Chardonnay from the Jura, and the rest is history.

The white wines of Pélican are made in the fresh ouilée style, where barrels are topped up each month with wine to prevent oxidation. (Jura's Vin Jaune style and other whites can be produced where barrels are left untopped, leaving very distinctive oxidative, nutty notes as the wines age.)

13/12/2024

Sub-$60 Pinot Noir Thriller: 2022 Didier Fornerol Côte de Nuits-Villages

At La Paulée tastings, one particular domaine always dominates the overachiever category, and pulling off a sub-$60 attention grabber in a room filled with the most expensive and adored wines of Burgundy is no easy feat.

The magical tale that Didier Fornerol captures in bottle cannot be told without Burgundy legend Jean-Pierre de Smet. From 1982 to 1998, Fornerol worked alongside de Smet at Domaine de l'Arlot, then he left to take over his own family's domaine

De Smet and l'Arlot's famed whole cluster regimen and translucent, traditional style of Pinot Noir are on full display in Didier's Côte de Nuits-Villages. His six hectares of vines in Corgoloin (Between Ladoix and Nuits-Saint-Georges) are in the same relative zone that put l'Arlot on the map.

Finding wines that overdeliver for their price point in Burgundy always marks a special day. Considering the pedigree and style closely tied to l'Arlot's golden era, this small-production Pinot Noir deserves immediate attention!

12/12/2024

2022 Volnay Crescendo: Domaine Marquis D'Angerville

If there's one village in the Côte de Beaune that I would choose red Burgundy nine days out of ten, it's Volnay. Domaine Marquis D'Angerville is at the top of the ladder, along with Lafarge and De Montille. Always stocked at home, D'Angerville is ideal when having friends for dinner––the versatility at the dining table and the WOW factor of all the cuvées make it among the easiest decisions for choosing young or aged red Burgundy.

Always the model of Volnay sophistication, d'Angerville's style is suave with ripe red and blue fruits and polished tannins coming from the pump over-only protocol during ferment of the 100% de-stemmed fruit. This house style meshes brilliantly with the chalky, heavily limestone-dominant Volnay terroir that exhibits grace and mineral tension.

The vintages stretching back decades here are ones I jump at on a wine list as they transform with time while still holding onto primary fruit. Today's more recent wines are approachable earlier, with refined tannins and site signatures that keep these in the conversation of the best red domaines of the Côte de Beaune.

The 2022 red Burgundy vintage is all about ripe and fleshy fruit built upon excellent mineral precision. Across Burgundy, the reds from Bourgogne Rouge to the Grand Crus have no weak links––It's a vintage that you can't miss. D'Angerville opted for early picking, beginning Aug 23rd, to harness mouth-watering acids and preserve freshness in this warm vintage. D'Angerville is one of the rare domaines that appeals to both fruit-forward and classic-leaning palates.

10/12/2024

Non-Vintage Champagne Champ: Jacquesson 747 (2019-Base)

When the discussion arises on the best non-vintage champagnes, Jacquesson is a leader of the pack. William Kelley of The Wine Advocate provided a detailed rundown explaining how 2019 marked a new era for this champagne house and why the 700-cuvée series stands apart from other examples:

"Frustrated that blending for a consistent house style meant making the great vintages worse just as it meant improving the weaker years, the Chiquets decided instead to employ reserve wines to bring complexity to each successive base vintage. Each 700-series edition is now transparently based upon a single vintage, supplemented by the addition of complementary reserve wines."

Today, I'm happy to offer the Jacquesson Cuvée 747 coming from the excellent high ripeness and high acid base vintage of 2019.

The quality has only continued to rise over the past decade as their farming practices reach new heights. This is a non-vintage for the most serious and classic-leaning champagne enthusiasts!

Kogod Wine Merchant

17/01/2025

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