🥂 Kathleen Willcox 🥂

There aren’t many iconic wineries in my immediate ’hood, but when I can, I hop in the car and head to the FLX. That little slice of Upstate New York has captured my heart on two recent visits, for very different reasons, and I’ve left each time blown away by the incredible landscapes and beautiful lakes, the warm and inviting B&Bs, the world-class kayaking and wandering, the imaginative farm-fresh food … and of course, the wine. Visionary viticulturalist Dr. Konstantin Frank established is eponymous winery in 1962, and has been one of the guiding lights of the wine scene as it continues to evolve. Now led by his great-granddaughter Meaghan Frank, alongside her father Frederick Frank. I am always excited to hear about their latest projects, and I was particularly chuffed to try this Brut 2020 Méthode Champenoise Sparkling Wine. The winery was one of the first to make a traditional method sparkling wine with vinifera grapes in the FLX. Since 1985, the process has been refined, but remains essentially the same. A blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, about 2% of the PN is barrel fermented in French oak. Secondary fermentation took place in bottle for a minimum of 30 months in Dr. Frank’s underground cellar. In the glass, it’s orchard apples, lemon curd, apricots, ginger. A perfect American toast to Independence! @drfrankwine #drfrankwine #flxwine #flx #nywineandgrapes #nywines #eastcoastwine #grapeful

Well-made chocolate, whether milk, dark or in some form of confection, should be one of the most straight-forward pleasures of life. That delight is diminished by the realities hiding behind some of the world’s most popular and accessible brightly wrapped treats. Child labor and irresponsible farming practices are rife in an industry nominally made for children to enjoy the sweeter side of life. Child welfare advocates like International Rights Advocates (IRA) say that an alarming amount of chocolate available in the U.S. was made with child labor. After Hershey, Nestle and Cargill won a dismissal of the suit brought by eight citizens of Mali who sought to hold the companies liable for child slavery on Ivory Coast farms, the IRA filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to force the Biden administration to block imports of cocoa harvested by children in West Africa. About 70 percent of the world’s cocoa supply is grown in West Africa. The organization filed the suit claiming that U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security have ignored evidence of children at work on cocoa farms. Child labor is an acknowledged issue in the industry. One study commissioned by the U.S. government and completed by the University of Chicago found that more than 790,000 children were working on cocoa plantations on the Ivory Coast. For those who love human rights and the environment just as much as they love their squares of chocolate bliss, there are some more ethical options on the market to try. Get the full story @pastemagazine @divinechocolateusa @hotelchocolatsaintlucia #chocolate #ethicalchocolate #sweetlife #ecotourism

When the season’s new “It” purse hits the street, a certain type of aficionado starts frothing at the mouth and planning their outfits. I save my drool for wine, and I immediately begin thinking “what will I eat with it? Or does it enem need food? Can it go naked?” Massican is one of the releases I get giddy about. When the cult Napa winery, built with love and incredible precision by Dan Petroski, sold to the world’s largest winery (Gallo) I was agog, with all of the usual pearl-clutching “now it’s going to suck” doom-saying that is to be expected during times of change if you’re stuck in your ways and ridiculously stubborn. Thankfully, Dan is no dummy, and the wine is still crave-worthy, collectible, pithy and premium. Dan is still the brains behind the brand, which made its name selling immediately refreshing (but also ageable!) whites that are anything but weird but certainly felt a bit off-script in Cabernet guzzling Napa. Here it’s Grego and Falanghina, Tocai Friulano and Ribolla Gialla, single varietal screamers and operatic blends that seem like they were grown in Friuli, filtered through California’s golden-hued lens. These are all bangers, but a few just lodge in my heart. Annia has been around for about 15 years, and the 2023 is a blend of Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla and Chardonnay, sourced from wee farms around Napa. Harvested and fermented separately in French oak and stainless, then blended, it’s lemonade for adults with saucy peaches and saline sass. A perfect hostess. While Annia is Northern Italian elegance, Gemina is a Southern Italian charmer. A blend of Greco, Falanghina and Fiano, this is crisp Granny green apples, lemon oil, grapefruit, liquid rocks, spice. A poised party animal. Bring them on! Delicious naked, or with your favorite salty and sharp Italian cheeses, eggplant parm, poetry readings, long philosophical discussions at firepits in the heat and at the height of summer’s sweating, sultry apotheosis. @massicanwinery #drinkmassican #cultwine #whitewine #firepitchats #fiano #falanghina

What if, instead of heading to the store to pick up a bottle of Pinot Noir or Sancerre, you opted for a Hollywood hunk or a stadium rock god? Or perhaps you’re more in the mood for an athlete. With the proliferation of celebrity wines out there on the market, that’s now possible. Celebrities have been in the wine game since the 1970s (director Francis Ford Coppola first filed for a winery license in 1978, and he sold his Sonoma County wineries in 2021 for an estimated $500 million+), and today, hundreds of celebrities are in the game, some with their own estates, and others who contract with established wineries to make a wine in a mutually agreed-upon style. Celebrity wines are, almost by definition, palpable extensions of celebrities’ personas, brands and paradigms. For better, and sometimes for worse, a celebrity’s approach to their “real” work and craft—and how they spend their off time—often tells you everything you need to know about the quality and flavor of the wine they produce too. @pastemagazine @miraval @lamascaronne @champagnetelmont @hamptonwater @champagnejeeper #celebritywines #miraval #roseallday #champagnelover #drinkpink #champagnejeeper

Hit the (authentic, fifth-gen) sauce with a jaguar-saving chaser? Yes, please. Alma del Jaguar is a mission-driven tequila developed by Sergio Vivanco of NOM 1414, master distiller Sergio Cruz and Adam Fodor, president of the International Tequila Academy, which sounds like an awesome and totally fake job. Entrepreneur McCauley Williams founded the brand, in honor of his photographer uncle Rick Williams, who co-founded the Northern Jaguar Project in a bid to preserve and recover wild jaguar habitat. Dubbed Nocturna, the wild-fermented Blanco tequila contains no additives or funky additions, just agave and water, and is bottled unfiltered by hand. Proceeds of ADJ go to support nonprofits like the Northern Jaguar Project and Malpai Borderlands Group. It feels good to help wild kitties, but what about the tequila? It’s complex, classic, and lush, with notes of all the little Italian lemons and oranges, pineapple, bell pepper, saline, cloves. Great neat, or in the usual suspects. @almadeljaguar #bigcats #jaguar #savethejaguars #tequileros #tequilatequila #nocturna

Tourism is the engine propelling wine sales and future growth in many regions. But not every experience will attract the same caliber of visitor (read: the ones ready to $pend today, and tomorrow). As the number of wine brands proliferate (there are now 11,691 in the U.S. alone, about 400 more than 2021, a steady increase of 4% year over year since 2010, according to the Wines Vines Analytics Winery Database), and the number of distributors whither (there are around 1,126 distributors today, down from around 3,000 in 1995 in the U.S. alone, a decrease of -62.47% according to Wines Vines Analytics), luring wine lovers to tasting rooms is the best—and sometimes the only—way to ensure financial success and growth. Peering at birds-eye-view numbers of a handful of wine regions also shows how valuable visits are: wine country regions in the U.S. generate an estimated $16.69 billion in annual tourism expenditures according to Wine America; wine tourism generates $3 billion in visitor expenditures in South Australia alone according to Tourism Research Australia; tourists in the E.U. generate almost €15 billion in revenue, according to Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins. But today’s big-spending tourist wants very different things than their parents or grandparents did. Younger generations aren’t thinking about retirement yet—59% of Millennials and 63% of Gen Z are more focused on spending money on “life experiences” than saving for retirement. Millennials and Gen Z are also willing to shell out the big bucks for luxury experiences. According to Bain & Co., they are set to outspend their Gen X and Baby Boomer counterparts, accounting for a whopping 70% of luxury spend by 2025. There are several ways wineries who are willing to forgo the formal, stilted tastings of yore for more impactful, unique experiences that will not only bring in younger generations, but been-there, done-that Gen X and Boomers who are ready for something new. Get the story @thedrinksbusiness /2024/06/how-wineries-are-getting-in-cash-rich-youngsters/ @doffowinery @vergenoegd_low_wine_estate @levantinehill @halterranch #linkinbio #winebusiness #winetravel

Italy has always been one of my—and let’s face it, the globes’—favorite sources of exuberant and explosive flavor, art, fashion, architecture and wine. The action underground feels like a handy metaphor for the flavor above. The boot serves up some of the highest levels of volcanic activity in the world, with 12 volcanos in total, the vast majority of which (9) are active. From heel to toe, up the shaft, and across its island, grapes are grown in soils born out of volcano ash and crushed rock. That composition helps create complex, structured wines brimming with acidity and mineral flavors. A handful of budget (thanks to Dalla “cut out the middle man” Terra Winery Direct) options: Tasca d’Almerita Tenuta Tascante 2022 Buonora Etna DOC: Sourced from vineyards on Sicily’s north-facing slopes, this is 100% Carricante, one of my favorite Mount Etna indigenous bangers. Citrus, light bright herbs, white flowers, cantaloupe, slate. Inama 2021 Carmenère Più Veneto Rosso IGT: Sourced from the hills of Mount Fascarino, this Carmenere and Merlot blend, this is dark berries, mocha, black peppers. Tasca d’Almerita Tenuta Capofaro 2022 Didyme Salina IGT: From the Aeolian Islands, Tenuta Capofara, with Vulcano and Stromboli volcanoes, this is made from Malvasia di Lipari. Yellow plums, green apples, jasmine, salty rocks. @tascadalmerita @inama_wine #volcanic #volcanicwine #activevolcano #italianwinelover #mountetna #vulcano #stromboli🌋

Creative problem solvers are the reason that things like electric cars and sandwiches exist. Also this rosé. We’ve all had far too many subpar rosé made from suspect grape varieties in regions that aren’t known for fresh, bright flavors, harvested at times when said already inappropriate grapes are way past their sell-by date from folks who should know better. Financier Barry Bayat, for one, was sick of it. So he created his own rosé, made with the tastiest grapes from Côtes de Provence. Folks heard about, then tasted the RUMOR. Word spread. RUMOR is a blend of my personal rosé all-stars, Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvedre, Vermentino, it’s dry, precise, delicate. Honeysuckle, (pink of course!) grapefruits, watermelon rind, salinic zest. @rumorrose #rumorrosé #roseallday #grapeful #summersips #cheers #tastingnotes

I recently sat down with Rémi Vervier, managing director and oenologist at Champagne Palmer, a house founded in 1947 by seven growers of premium and grand cru grapes in Reims. Their vision was of unity in diversity of soils, microclimates and exposures, but they’ve always had their eye on the future. Today, that complexity is distilled with incredible precision at Palmer, which has 500 acres of vineyards in the Montagne de Reims, all of which are either premier or grand cru. Rémi offered his thoughts on the future of the house amid climate change and a transforming agricultural economy. (Still working through those). We also sipped through several cuvees at Ilili, where I was reminded firsthand of how the different personalities of Champagne can play beautifully with a surprising array of flavors, spices and textures. (Seared octopus, tuna tartare, hummus, spiced shrimp, fried halloumi ….) I had several favorites, but I woke up thinking about these: Champagne Palmer La Réserve Nature, with a big goose egg of dosage, I braced myself for a tongue cleaning, but the six years of aging on lees in Palmer’s 18-meter-deep chalk cellars offered complexity, purity and an opulence I’ve never found in a zero dosage. Citrus, chalk, ripe green apples, saline. And who couldn’t fall for Champagne Palmer Vintage Collection 1997? Full-bodied and supple, with pineapple, crème brulee, dried lime, pastry. Oooh la la. Thank you to the always fab double-team of Teuwen + Quintessential for putting it together with precision and joy. @champagnepalmer @teuwencomm @quintessentialwines #champagneallday #champagnecollection #agedchampagne #brutnature #zerodosage

The Columbian-born, French-trained (Château Haut-Brion and Domainer Stephane Ogier not less), California-living-and-dreaming Bibiana González Rave works with her equally multi-talented husband Jeff Pisoni on multiple wine-soaked passion projects, including Alma de Cattleya. Her wines at AdC are some of my favorite ways to taste through the best fruit in Northern California. The 2023 Rosé of Pinot Noir is crafted from hand-picked grapes sourced from the Russian River Valley and Carneros. The grapes are direct-pressed and aged in neutral French oak barrels for five months. 500 cases. Crushed strawberries, grapefruit, orange peel, apricots, watermelon. The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is made from five hillside vineyards in Sonoma. The wine was aged on the lees in neutral French oak for five months. 2,700 cases. This is intense, fresh but juicy with peaches, citrus, zested lemons, honeydew. These are both around $25 but punch weigh above their weight cla$$. Bibiana’s whites and rosés also age beautifully. @bibianagrp #winewomen #womeninwine #terroirwine #pisoni #grapeful

One of the largest landholdings in Piedmont’s Roero belongs to Tenuta Carretta. The winery is perched in a triangular parcel of land formed by three ancient Roman roads in Piobesi d’Alba, adjacent to Alba and a short drive from Turin. Aristos have been squabbling over the estate since at least 1461 when Marquis Damiano took possession of it. In 1467, he issued a public act granting the Corrado brother Giacomino and Pietrino the right to work and cultivate vines there. Tenuta Carretta was born. Since then, it has changed hands a few times, settling with the Miroglio family in 1985. The primo vineyards are primarily in Roero, north of the Tanaro River, in an area that emerged from the sea during the Tertiary Pliocene era. About 80 hectares are recognized as World Heritage by Unesco; one 35-hectare plot stretches around the winery, from north to south. A small portion (2.6 hectares) spill into Barolo, and the Nebbiolo grown there makes from some baller Barolo Cannubi DOCG and Barolo Cannubi DOCG Riserva. The soils is dominated by sandstone and sedimentary rocks. The sandiest areas produce aromatic and elegant wines, and when they mix with calcerous marl, the wines are more austere. The grapes are primarily Arneis and Nebbiolo, with Barbera and Favorita / Vermentino flourishing as well. Tenuta also has vineyards in the Alta Langa DOCG. At a recent tasting, we tasted through several of Tenuta’s most popular and beloved wines, but these are staying with me, weeks later: Barbaresco Riserva DOCG Cascina Bordino 2018: The Nebbiolo grapes here are primed for long-aging, which allows them to develop the aromatic intensity and complexity these wines are so renowned for. Aged in oak tonneau and large barrels for 36+ months, then bottled and aged for a total of 50 months before release. In the glass, it’s plums, raspberries, roses, softness. Roero Arneis DOCG Riserva Canorei 2021: The Arneis here hails from Tenuta’s cru monopole, and they are fermented in stainless steel then aged for 12+ months in tonneau, bottled for another 12 before released. This is tropical fruit, honeysuckle, light vanilla. #winenotes #winetasting #barolo #altalanga @tenutacarretta

Wither Hills has been making terroir-driven wine in Marlborough for three decades, but it’s just making its way into our greedy, grabby little hands in the U.S. now. Led by Matt Large, who cut his teeth as Kim Crawford’s head winemaker and helped the winery become the icon it is today, he makes wine here in the spirit of Maori’s türangawaewae, which translates to “the place where we stand.” Here, intense sunshine and cool coastal breezes come together. The 2023 Wither Hills Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is made from grapes grown in vineyards on the edge of the South Pacific, bringing tropicality, citrus zest, orchard fruit, verve and salinic sass. Wither Hills is committed to not just evoking the place where we stand, but preserving it. It uses grapes from vineyards that are certified Sustainable Winegrowing NZ and BioGro Organic NZ, and they sponsor the Oyster Recovery Partnership, which funds the planting of 6 million oysters back into the Chesapeake Bay. @witherhills #sauvyb #sauvignonblanc #marlborough #oysterrestoration #chesapeakebay