Lirac has a bit of a troubled middle child syndrome on its hands. Being a middle child myself, I can relate. Look at it this way: if I asked you to tell me about some killer Southern Rhône reds (which is 85% of Lirac’s output), you’re probably going to start waxing poetic about Châteauneuf-du-Pape. You…
Category: kick-ass wines
It’s Spring, So Drink Some F*cking Tavel
It’s Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, which for wine writers means one thing: an inundation of Rosé samples and PR pitches. So I am here to remind you about the Southern Rhône’s answer to Rosé Spring Fever: Tavel. You remember Tavel. It’s near Avignon. Wine has been produced there for centuries as a light-ish red….
We Now Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Features To Kick Your Ass
Lately, I’ve been reserving this virtual space for featuring producers I have recently (ok, ok, more like not-so-recently) visited in-person, with my feet in tasting rooms, cellars, vineyards, dilapidated vineyard trucks, etc. Today, however, I’m taking a short break from that feature run to turn your attention towards three items from the ever-expanding sample pool,…
It’s Good To Be The Princess (Azienda Vitivinicola Condé Recent Releases)
Chiara Condello grew up “ten minutes away” from Predappio’s Azienda Vitivinicola Condé, a place so picturesque – even by exceptionally picturesque Romagna standards – that it houses its own resort, which in turn houses its own restaurant in an area that’s nearly synonymous with Italian cuisine. Condello’s father, Francesco, established this little slice of Napa-Route-29-in-the-heart-of-Romagna-wine-country…