Michelin has started rating wineries, and the wine world has opinions. In this episode of This Week Uncorked, Brett Martin looks at the backlash to Michelin’s new grape ratings in Bordeaux, where Pétrus earned three grapes and Château Margaux only two. Also on the show: Oregon’s Eola-Amity Hills AVA now claims six of the state’s eight 100-point wines, and France’s Arbois appellation turns 90 while some of its best-known producers walk away. Then the Wine and Winery of the Week: Devona in Walla Walla, a 2021 Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, dinner at Hattaway’s on Alder, and corkage at Sidney Street Cafe in St. Louis.
The Eola-Amity Hills Winegrowers Association announced that Jeb Dunnuck’s Audrey Frick has awarded 100 points to Morgen Long’s 2024 Temperance Hill Chardonnay and Kelley Fox Wines’ 2024 Carter Vineyard Pinot Noir. That gives the Eola-Amity Hills six of Oregon’s eight 100-point wines, just in time for the AVA’s 20th anniversary.
From the article:
2024 Morgen Long, Chardonnay, Temperance Hill Vineyard, Eola-Amity Hills, from Jeb Dunnuck (rated in 2026)
2024 Kelley Fox Wines, Carter Vineyard, Eola-Amity Hills, from Jeb Dunnuck (rated in 2026)
2023 Rose and Arrow, Touchstone Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills AVA, from James Suckling (rated in 2026)
2023 Bethel Heights High Wire Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills, from Decanter (rated in 2025)
2021 00 Wines Richard Hermann Cuvée Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, from Jeb Dunnuck (rated in 2023)
2021 Morgen Long Chardonnay X Omni Vineyard, Eola-Amity Hills, from Jeb Dunnuck (rated in 2023)
Wink Lorch, writing for Wine-Searcher, marks 90 years since Arbois in the Jura became one of France’s first AOCs. She finds a region doing well commercially but at odds with some of its most celebrated producers, who have walked away from the appellation altogether.
From the article:
The best known of the Jura’s Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée (AOCs), Arbois is also the oldest in France, the first of six ratified on 15 May 1936. It was well placed to be first in line, having also been the first to create a winegrowers’ cooperative cellar, or Fruitière in 1906. But there is trouble in the old AOC. ‘The reality we are seeing [is that] some winemakers are leaving the AOC, and others, younger [new] ones aren’t even trying to join it anymore. The AOC risks excluding winemakers from their own terroir and becoming increasingly closed in on itself.’ This reality check came from Dutch native Florien Kleine Snuverink, a partner in the organic and natural Arbois producer Les Bottes Rouges. Her observation referred to producers who shun the AOC, instead selling their wines under the Vin de France designation. This label does not permit any mention of location including Arbois or Jura. The distinct Jura bottle may not be used, nor may local varieties, Savagnin, Poulsard and Trousseau, be cited on the label.
Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, writing for Robb Report, look at the backlash to Michelin’s new grape ratings for wineries, which started in Bordeaux. Pétrus, Cheval Blanc and d’Yquem got three grapes while Château Margaux, Haut-Brion and Angélus got two, and plenty of critics aren’t buying the method.
From the article:
‘The lack of transparency is going to become a bigger issue with time, and it’s already a major problem,’ says Jeff Leve, publisher and editor of The Wine Cellar Insider, who polled his followers and friends across multiple platforms where he reports ‘the results were extremely negative.’ Leve also takes issue with the guide only rating the estates rather than individual vintages or cuvées: ‘Every wine comes from a specific place or terroir that cannot be reproduced in another location. That, the climatic condition of the year, choices in the vineyard and in the cellar will never be the same from vintage to vintage,’ he says. ‘Wines change every year. While it’s interesting to some wine consumers to learn about a property, it’s not exactly relevant to what’s in the bottle and the glass.’
Devona is a small Walla Walla producer founded by John and Molly Abbott, with a portfolio spanning Washington Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay alongside Oregon Pinot Noir. John Abbott’s background includes time at Canoe Ridge Vineyard and 13 years at Abeja before launching Devona in 2015. Tastings are by appointment in the working cellar, with groups limited to six guests. The winery does not operate a traditional wine club, relying instead on a mailing list for releases and events.
The 2021 Pine Ridge Vineyards Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon is a full-bodied Napa Cabernet with blackcurrant, blackberry, plum, cedar, tobacco, and dark chocolate. It has firm tannins, medium-plus acidity, and a long, savory finish, with noticeable oak still integrating. At 15.5% alcohol, it is a concentrated, structured wine that benefits from about three hours of decanting. It is drinking well now but has the framework to continue developing through 2036 and beyond.
Hattaway’s on Alder in downtown Walla Walla combines Southern cooking traditions with Pacific Northwest ingredients. Chef Richard Hattaway’s menu includes house-cured meats, seafood, grits, pickled components, and braised preparations, giving the restaurant a distinct New Southern identity. The atmosphere is comfortable and casual-refined, with a menu designed for both smaller plates and full entrées.
Corkage is $25 per Bottle
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Corkage Fee: $30 Per Bottle / No Limit
St. Louis, MO
4.9 Stars with over 779+ Reviews
Sidney Street Cafe is an upscale St. Louis restaurant blending New American cuisine with classic French technique and Southern flavors. Led by James Beard Award-winning Chef Kevin Nashan, it features a changing seasonal menu served in a historic, exposed-brick storefront.