All in USA

New York's White Hybrids

New York's White Hybrids

Matthew Gaughan
USA

25% of plantings in New York are hybrids. Many producers and commentators don’t think it’s possible to make quality wine from hybrids, but New Yorkers disagree. I tasted 21 white wines from hybrids to find out…

Hybrids

Hybrids

Matthew Gaughan
USA

A recent tasting of a hybrid blend from New York opened up a discussion on the history, use, and potential quality of the many hybrids grown across North America. Often dismissed as only producing low-quality wines, hybrids nevertheless have their place in viticulture which is beginning to be more appreciated. The great question remains though: can hybrids produce quality wine…?

Long Island

Long Island

Matthew Gaughan
USA

Long Island has a unique growing environment: the same latitude as Madrid, but heavily influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and more like Bordeaux. The region is celebrating its 50th anniversary, moving from a developing wine scene to one confident in its current direction with much more certainty about grape varieties and how to work with the sometimes difficult growing conditions. As a result, quality is far more consistent making Long Island a region to follow.

Columbia Gorge, Washington

Columbia Gorge, Washington

Matthew Gaughan
USA

Columbia Gorge: an AVA which is in both Washington and Oregon with a little bit of the character of both: wet in the winter, hot in the summer. It’s beautiful, with some kooky winemakers who have been experimenting with different grape varieties and winemaking practices since the 1990s with outstanding Grüner Veltliner and Gamay among the results. One of the most distinctive, unusual, and exciting regions on the US West Coast.

Reimagining Food Pairings

Reimagining Food Pairings

Matthew Gaughan
USA

Pairing food and wine can offer many unexpected surprises. At an online tasting of Washington wines and burgers, classic pairings with Cabernet and a GSM blend worked as well as expected, but rosé and burgers? Yes!

Sta. Rita Hills

Sta. Rita Hills

Matthew Gaughan
USA

Sta. Rita Hills is an AVA in Santa Barbara County producing increasingly impressive wines, most notably from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir but also from Syrah. For my first wine tasting trip in months, I visited the region to see exactly what’s going on and came back extremely enamoured with the wines and the direction in which the region is heading.

Zinfandel and the Accidents of Terroir

Zinfandel and the Accidents of Terroir

Matthew Gaughan
USA

Clay Mauritson’s family have been in California’s Dry Creek Valley for 150 years and their history parallels that of the California wine industry. Clay makes wine from the small Rockpile AVA which is heavily influenced by Lake Sonoma, the creation of which devastated the Mauritson family’s way of living fifty years ago. Without Lake Sonoma, not only would Clay’s wine taste completely differently, they might not exist at all…

Lodi

Lodi

Matthew Gaughan
USA

A recent visit to Lodi challenged its reputation as a hot region only capable of making big, full-bodied, inexpensive reds. With the price of land rising elsewhere and climate change affecting growing conditions, Lodi’s Mediterranean grape varieties may play a strong part in California’s future.

Paso Robles Revisited

Paso Robles Revisited

Matthew Gaughan
USA

Paso Robles is one of my favourite California regions, producing Rhône-style wines as well as Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. A revisit to the area introduced me to some new producers, and confirmed the quality of the wines being made there.