They say necessity is the mother of invention, and this story begins with a hole which needed filling. When Michael & Harmon Skurnik started The Pinot Project in 2009, it was to answer a call from their customers in New York who were looking for great quality Pinot Noir at a reasonable price. Rewind the … Read More
THE 2018 VINTAGE Well, it’s complicated. Let me reassure you, there are plenty of excellent wines and more than a few great ones. They don’t seem destined for long-keeping (by which I mean decades-long) but you’re not laying them away in any case, even though you could and would love the results. In contrast to … Read More
While there is never a wrong time to enjoy gin – that bright, refreshingly piney, clear spirit – we do think that spring and summer are an especially right time to enjoy this long-lived and historically exciting spirit. Rife with stories from the terrible 18th-century gin craze called “the mother’s ruin” and followed by the … Read More
In 1953, James D. Zellerbach returned from his tenure as the Ambassador to Italy under the Truman administration with one goal in mind – to plant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California. While abroad, he spent extensive time traveling through Burgundy which ignited his love for their famed grape varieties. He planted three acres each … Read More
In this classroom-style seminar our Skurnik Spirits team shared best practices for tasting spirits before putting our deductive sipping skills to the test. Gabriel Clary of Skurnik’s esteemed Terry Theise Portfolio shared tasting techniques from the world of wine, and armed with this perspective, we blind tasted a variety of spirits before discussing their identity. By … Read More
It is estimated that in the United States 70 percent of all family-run businesses never make it to the second generation, and a staggering 98 percent never get to the third. The wine world is an exception – particularly in the Old World, where properties and businesses being passed down is often the rule. Napoleonic … Read More
This won’t be a definitive vintage report because this does not purport to be a Standard Reference for Champagne, but rather my own opinions in a general way. Detailed vintage information is easily available elsewhere. What I’ll do here is to sketch the characteristics of various vintages in terms of how the wines taste – and … Read More
The 2018 Vintage The “story” of this vintage is so singular that its telling might well supersede detailing how the wines taste. I don’t want to bury the lead, so I’ll start with taste and type, and the story will follow. 2018 is a homogenous vintage with a very high general level, below which it … Read More
With his imposing frame and towering presence, Pierre-Yves Colin can sometimes seem built more for a rugby pitch than a cellar. When in conversation, he listens intently, his intense eyes never averting their gaze. When he speaks, it is with great purpose and determined passion; every word making it clear that you are in the … Read More
Why is it that the Finger Lakes wine region does not hold the same reputation as Champagne, Napa or Barolo? How can a region’s latitude be the most defining factor in its commercial success? Should the Finger Lakes AVA be considered a world-class wine region? At Skurnik Wines, we adamantly believe so. American Riesling belongs … Read More
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