Mitch RABINOWITZ 
Château Cheval Blanc: History and Portfolio Château Cheval Blanc begins as part of the old Figeac estate, but its modern history starts in 1832, when Jean-Jacques Ducasse bought the core of the property and began assembling the land that would shape the estate thereafter. Over the next two decades he enlarged it with parcels from … Read more
Château La Gaffelière: History and Portfolio Château La Gaffelière stands immediately south of the medieval village of Saint-Émilion, on the road rising from the Dordogne plain toward the limestone heights of the town. Ausone lies to the west and Pavie to the east, placing La Gaffelière within a small concentration of celebrated vineyards along the … Read more
Château Ausone: History and Portfolio Château Ausone occupies one of the smallest and most exacting great sites in Bordeaux. The vineyard covers about 7.25 hectares on the southern edge of Saint-Émilion, immediately below the medieval village, where the land descends from the limestone plateau along a steep slope. The upper parcels sit on asteriated limestone, … Read more
Château Angélus: History and Portfolio Château Angélus lies southwest of the village of Saint-Émilion in a naturally curved area of vineyards overlooked by the churches of Saint-Émilion. For generations, vineyard workers in this part of the appellation could hear the bells ringing in the morning, at midday, and in the evening for the Angelus prayer. … Read more
Grappa: Italy’s Pomace Spirit Wine production leaves behind a substantial amount of solid material after grapes have been pressed. The skins, seeds, pieces of pulp, and sometimes stems are collectively called pomace, or vinaccia in Italian. For centuries, much of this material had little commercial value once the juice had been removed. It still contained … Read more
Replanting after the freeze helped establish the distribution of the two varieties found in modern Bordeaux.
Those differences begin with climate and vineyard soils.
Syrah and Shiraz: How One Grape Acquired Two Names Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape. The difference is linguistic and often stylistic. When a producer chooses one term over the other, the choice can signal the tradition the producer has in mind and the kind of wine they intend to make. Syrah began in … Read more
Why Grape Varieties Came to Have Fixed Descriptions For much of European wine history, a buyer ordered Chablis or Sancerre; the grape names Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc usually remained unstated. Someone choosing Pauillac was expected to know that Cabernet Sauvignon would probably have an important role, although the label did not need to say so. … Read more
A Walk Through White Burgundy: Vineyards, History, and Change Vines were growing in Burgundy during the Gallo-Roman period, although the surviving evidence does not establish when they first arrived or which grapes were planted. By the early Middle Ages, vineyards had become important to religious communities and secular landowners because wine was required for worship, … Read more