Rob Theakston
There is a particular kind of book that doesn’t just crowd shelves at home or in the food section of your local bookshop. It coats the tongue and makes you wonder if you are the kind of person deserving to be gently lowered into a vat of mash and left there until you agree that…
Sagrantino is a grape that genuinely humbles. Not in a pretentious, wine-clown kind of way, but more like the way a long hike in midday July heat humbles: you think you’re prepared, and then somewhere around mile three, there’s an epiphany that in no way do you have business being out there. That’s Sagrantino: dense,…
On a surface level, FreeAF Espresso Martini can be interpreted as either a promise or a dare. Freedom from alcohol, but also from whatever joyful, slightly disreputable physics making the real thing such a classic cocktail. This is a drink that, in its original form, rests squarely at the center of need and impulse: a…
There is a version of celebrity wine, and celebrity anything really, existing purely as a licensing deal: a label slapped onto something bulk-produced and mildly unremarkable. It is the vineyard equivalent of a perfume “partnership”, with the celebrity’s name performing the heavy marketing lift while the liquid inside does as little as possible. You, savvy…
Alto Adige occupies one a curious corner of Italian wine. Tucked into Italy’s far north against the Austrian border, it carries a distinctly dual identity, shaped by Italian and Germanic influence in language, culture, and winemaking. Alpine peaks dominate the landscape, but the vineyards benefit from a surprisingly varied climate, with daytime sun and warm…
The Baldacci family has established itself as a perennial favorite on the site, often making post-review encore appearances on our curated roundups of top 10 wines. Their familiarity is not without solid justification: nearly three decades into the winery’s run, the story is less about chasing notoriety than building something of high-quality reliability: something to…
Josh Cellars Seaswept Sparkling is tailored for the intersection of brunch, summer, and a playlist starting with anonymous, synthetic downtempo beats and somehow ends up with a sea shanty singalong before the table is cleared and the Uber home arrives. A blend of 50/50 Chenin Blanc and Colombard, it opens with an easygoing brightness of…
No less than six months from our overview of Mi Sueño’s 2025 offerings, we return to one of our favorite Napa Valley vineyards to taste a quartet of vintages released this year. If you’re new to the site (or the wine), Mi Sueño (“my dream”) was founded by Rolando Herrera, a Mexican-born winemaker who rose…
If you are currently a member of Generation X with more miles in the rearview mirror than ahead of you, then you are old enough to remember when subscription card sets were an actual thing. If so, this will feel familiar in a way bordering on both the forensic and nostalgic. There was a stretch…
While a sizeable sum of U.S. wineries find themselves retreating, shuttering tasting rooms, trimming ambitions, or informing shareholders that caution was always in the cards, the Heath Family portfolio carries on adding labels, acreage, and reasons to remain relevant in the ongoing campaign to make Texas a formidable wine destination. K-Estate (Kuhlman Estate) sits within…