Moore Brothers Blog

Terres de Fagayra

winegrowers Greg Moore

Marjorie and Stéphane Gallet in Montner “Old vines, old soil. I’m the only young thing at the domaine,” Marjorie told an interviewer shortly after she created Domaine Le Roc des Anges in 2001. She was twenty-three.The estate grew to international fame in the hands of this “prodigy.” In 2008 she was joined by her husband, Stéphane, who had been working at the Mas Amiel, a famous producer of Maury. Together they created the tiny “Terres de Fagayra” to produce beautiful, rare bottlings of fortified wines under the appellation, Maury.

Miss Nancy's Shrimp & Grits

favorites Terry Moore

Miss Nancy’s Shrimp ‘n Grits I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Every husband says that, but I’m empirically correct—no one makes shrimp and grits like Bridget (except for her mother, Nancy, who wrote this recipe): Grits: 1 14-ounce can of chicken broth (or 1 and 3/4 cups homemade) 1 cup milk 1/2 tsp. salt 1 cup grits 3 ounces shredded cheddar cheese 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 tsp. Louisiana hot sauce 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper Preparation: 1. Bring chicken broth, salt, milk and 1 1/3 cups of water to a boil. Stir in grits and reduce heat to low, cooking the grits until thick, approximately 10 minutes. 2. Stir in cheese, hot sauce and pepper until melted and incorporated. Remove from heat and plate, topped with shrimp mixture (below). Shrimp Mixture: 2 slices of bacon 2 tsp. vegetable oil 1-2 lbs. peeled and cleaned uncooked shrimp 1/2 cup chopped green onions 1/8 tsp. salt 2 gar

Domaine Cornu-Camus

winegrowers Greg Moore

Lydia Cornu-Camus and Christophe Pertuzot Classic, real-world-priced, estate-bottled Burgundy is always a happy surprise. The land is expensive, the climate is unreliable, and demand usually exceeds supply. But if you’re willing to look beyond the famous villages on the Route des Grands Crus, there are still discoveries to be made: expressive Burgundies, white and red, grown by passionate stewards of the genuine Burgundian tradition. The Cornu family has lived in Echevronne, about seven kilometers northwest of Beaune, since the thirteenth century. Pierre Cornu joined his parents in the late 1970s, and like so many of the best of his generation, was the first in his family to estate-bottle the wine. In 1981 he married Bernadette Camus, and in 2007, after completing her studies in enology at Beaune, their daughter Lydia, along with her husband Christophe Pertuzot (previously of Domaine Leroy), joined them as co-gerants, ensuring the continuity of this dynamic ten-hectare estate.

Poggio Al Sole

winegrowers Greg Moore

Johannes and Kathrin Davaz There are eighteen contiguous hectares of sloping schistose clay that include the highest vineyards in Chianti, all perfectly sheltered from the Tramontane (north wind) by the surrounding oak forest. In addition to Solaia and Tignanello, neighbors include Fontodi, Castello dei Rampolla, and Villa Caffaggio. Documents in the archives of the abbey of Badia a Passignano, which owned Poggio al Sole until the 1960s, show that olives and wine were grown there as early as the 12th century. Johannes “Giovanni” Davaz was a newly minted enologist when his family bought the estate and he moved there in 1990.

Bele Casel

winegrowers David Moore

Luca Ferraro, his mother, Antonella, his sister, Paola, and his wife, Giulana Danilo Ferraro set out with the goal of producing fine, estate-bottled Prosecco in the early 1980s when he was an oenology student. His father-in-law had a hectare of old Glera (the grape that used to be known as Prosecco) and Malvasia, and sold the wine in in demijohn to locals.  After completing his studies, Danilo went to work at a nearby distillery, and helped his father-in-law in the vineyard in his spare time. He soon realized that Prosecco was the “heart and soul” of the Colli Asolani, and set out to establish what has become the leading estate in the region.  When we met him, his tiny winery was about the size of an American, two-car garage–producing the best Prosecco we’d ever tasted. Today Danilo continues the work with his son Luca, who oversees the organic farming of their vineyards…and the winery is a little larger, just off of the family home. Here's an Italian television

Industrial Wine - Allowable Chemicals

wine David Moore

polyoxyethylene 40 monostearate…looks appetizing… The following is offered without a whole lot of comment–well, here and there I may have added a comment. This is a by no means comprehensive list of ATF approved chemicals and processes allowed in U.S. "industrial" wine production: polyoxyethylene 40 monostearate (I think that's what the formula above is about. I'll have to ask Greg's daughter. She knows these things) dimethyldicarbonate diacetyl (gives your cheap Chardonnay its "buttery" flavor - and Orville Redenbacher popcorn its flavor) silicon dioxide dimethylpoly-siloxane sorbitan  monostearategyceryl mono-oleategyceral dioleate (nothin' says "love" like an oleate, and a DI-OLEATE is even more special) copper sulfate calcium carbonate ascorbic acid  erythorbic acid ammonium phosphate [mono- and dibasic] (I prefer the mono, but, you know, thats just "how I roll") gum arabic dimethyl dicarbonate catalase ce

Say It With Me Now...

wine David Moore

Pacherenc du Vic-Bihl Sec from Château Viella – and a perfect pairing It had been been a long time since we’d been able to bring in one of the great white wines of the Southwest of France. We missed them, but Alain Bortolussi at Château Viella finally had enough for us to bring in a small amount of his dry, (say it with me now), Pacherenc du Vic-Bihl. If you’ve never experienced wine like this, it’s a revelation. The most important indigenous white grapes of the Southwest in appellations such as Pacherenc, Irouleguy, and Jurançon include Gros Manseng, Arrufiat, and Petit Manseng, all grown to varying degrees depending on local preferences. They are a “Basque” tradition.

Château Viella

winegrowers Greg Moore

Alain Bortolussi and his family in Madiran In 1952, Alain Bortolussi's grandfather, an immigrant from the Veneto, purchased the eighteenth-century château and the surrounding 25 hectares of vines, which had just been classified under AOC regulations as Madiran and Pacherenc du Vic Bilh. At the time, it had almost no value. Over the next thirty-five years, most of the estate was replanted with the best clones of Tannat and Cabernet Franc for the Madiran, along with a tiny one-hectare parcel of local white varieties for the Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh. Alain, who is the first to bottle wine at the estate, took charge in 1991. When we met him in 2013, he was just completing the restoration of the château. In 2016, his daughters, Claire, and Marion, joined Alain at Château Viella, and in 2019, on Alain’s nominal “retirement,” have taken the reins of this jewel of a winegrowing estate.

Château Sipian

winegrowers Greg Moore

Frédéric Méhaye The estate lies on a privileged location: atop a rare mound of Garonnaise gravel, looking directly down on the Gironde estuary. Château Sipian had always been classified a Cru Bourgeois of the Médoc, until the vineyards were pulled up and abandoned in the 1950s. Bernard and Nicole Méhaye purchased the estate in 1978, and planted the first seven hectares of Merlot. But the real history of Château Sipian begins with their son Frédéric, whose risk-taking vision and hard work have lifted the estate into the front rank of Médoc producers. Today, Frédéric’s son, Quentin Méhaye, has taken over responsibility for much of the work in the twenty-five hectares of mostly 30-year-old vines.

Agricola Ca’ La Bionda

winegrowers Greg Moore

Alessandro Castellani in the Casal Vegri vineyard Ca’ La Bionda was founded in 1902 by Pietro Castellani, Alessandro’s great grandfather, who was a passionate grape grower and winemaker. The east facing hillside vineyards extend over 29 hectares in the commune of Marano di Valpolicella, northwest of Verona, in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico zone. Only traditional varieties, including Corvina Veronese, Corvinone, and Rondinella are grown (there are no international varieties), and the farming is entirely organic. Particular attention and care are given to the delicate process of drying the grapes for the production of the Amarone and the sweet Reciotto.