The birth of a rare red burgundy variety!

$20 and.. $18 and... $27 (I think I might prefer the acidiy on the '08, but this is so pretty, chamomile, fennel, yellow flowers, and a chenin-like wet wool)...

And it distressed me to miss this tasting in August. Pigs on spits and all. 1° Fête du Vin Naturel en Ardèche à ValvignèresUploaded by okasion. - Discover more animation and arts videos....

The day started with a train ride from Paris and then to Pupillon and Chez Overnoy, directly outside to his garden, to where he has his own little nursery with baby ploussard, savignin and chardonnay. While late June, the yard had this tender spring green about it. The hour was 11 o'clock. Out came the glasses. A mystery wine was poured. We stood in the breeze, just where Pierre likes to taste, per instructions of his old mentor M. Jules Chauvet. No one had any intention of spitting. "Guess how old it is?" he asked. Jean Paul Rocher & Pierre Overnoy This was a tough one.

Three days before my European trip I took the subway up to iTrulli where Nicola Marzovilla had prepared a tasting of the legendary Valentini wines. This was a mini-media tour of the wines, a rare chance to taste a vertical. The house in Abruzzo is famously secretive, and it ain't cheap. They rarely allow any one in the cellars and they won't talk technique. But they have a reputation of being one of those old-fashioned sorts and swear that they never vary in the way they make wine. But, who knows.

Last week I was the guest on Grape Radio and thought I should let you know. It was great fun talking to the gents over there, and I thank them for having me on. If you head over there to listen, you might be interested in the assortment of comments. Sound quality was not the greatest, but it's a long way from NYC to their studios in California . Grape Radio...

Lyle Fass over at RocksandFruit put this pretty funny video together. Perked my day right up....

They call Bunuel everything: traitor, anarchist, pervert, defamer, iconoclast. But lunatic they do not call him. It is true, it is lunacy he portrays, but it is not his lunacy...this is the lunacy of civilization, the record of man's achievement after ten thousand years of refinement. -- Henry Miller...

I was feeling guilty about being late. But Chris was green and sick and we were...late. He was gracious. We zoomed to his vines, nearby. I let the boys ride in the big JPmobile. I hitched with Laureano. We needed to talk. I really wanted to know how he arrived to this place--ultra -extreme, hardcore in Terra Alta. Truly hardcore natural. Wound up Laureano has a nervous energy and completely endearing quality that infuses his bottles. You might not have tasted the wines, so you'll have to see for yourself, but you'll get the idea in this loosely edited transcript.