Wine
The Second Wine Strategy
How the second labels of great houses deliver most of the pleasure for a fraction of the price, if you know when they shine.
Vol. XI, No. II
Editor, Wine & Spirits
Natalia Hassloch
Natalia Hassloch is the editor of The Collector’s Review and writes on wine and spirits. She reports from cellars, estates, and warehouses rather than from press releases, and is most interested in the gap between what a label claims and what a glass delivers: second wines, library vintages, the cask behind the age statement.
By Natalia Hassloch
6 pieces
Spirits
At Cask Strength
Cask strength is not machismo. It is the most honest version of a spirit, and it lets you do the diluting yourself.
Wine
The Format Question
Bottle size is not vanity. The format you cellar changes how a wine ages, and usually for the better.
Wine
Cellaring as Patience
When to hold and when to drink, and why patience, not provenance, is the cellar's real asset.
Spirits
Age Is Not a Number
Older is not always better. Why the cask, not the figure on the label, decides what reaches the glass.
Spirits
The Independent's Edge
Independent bottlers pour the same distilleries with less marketing and more candour, and often for less. Why the plain label rewards the curious.