Toro is a region in Spain's Castilla y Leon, a northwestern province that hugs Portugal and spans east to Rioja's western border.

While the wines of Toro were quite famous during medieval times, the region was devastated by phylloxera at the end of the 19th century. For the next 100 years, the Toro was most famous for its production of bulk wine.

Yet there remained a rich winemaking heritage and small pockets of old, ungrafted vines - the "lucky ones" that survived phylloxera. In 1987, the Toro DO was created with just four wineries.

Today, there are over 40 wineries in the region.

Vineyards sit at relatively high altitudes - between 600 and 750 meters above sea level - on a bed of clay, sand and calcareous soils. The summer growing season is long, hot and dry with quite crisp evenings.

The local Tinta de Toro is a strain of Tempranillo that's perfectly adapted to this region's climatic extremes.

Burgundy. In New York.

Every year, the greatest winemakers of the Côte d'Or and beyond come to the U.S. to take part in one of the most joyous, thrilling and comprehensive celebrations of Burgundy on the planet: La Paulée. This year, La Paulée is being held in New York City February 10-12.

This is a true clos of about eight hectares, and it's a monopole of Dutraive's. The VV (featured today) is from vines within the clos that are 30 to 70+ years old.

Dutraive compares the Grand'Cour to a Beaune in its muscle and broad-shouldered profile.

In 2009, Jean-Louis included 90% of the stems in the carbonic maceration, which gave the wine a sturdy and spicy edge aligned with the marked fruitiness from the full carbonic.

(Not that Champagne.) This well-respected climat in Fleurie hosts a bedrock of granite that's much closer to the surface than many other sites in the Cru.

Dutraive has one scant hectare of vines that are over 70 years old, and he limits the hectare's production to just 15-30 hectolitres.

The results are an elegant wine - commonly considered Dutraive's best - that Jean-Louis compares to a Chambolle-Musigny with bright, focused, precise yet silky and slightly spicy elements.

German wine is confusing - what can we say? Let's try to simplify a touch...

A Gold Capsule for a wine is sort of like getting a "gold star" back in grade school.

German winemakers give these only to certain bottlings they think are very special.

See, in Germany, a number of different wines are often made from the same vineyard. Technically, the only way to legally differentiate wines from the same vineyard is by the AP number - it's like the social security number every wine gets. It's why, for example, you'll see a Graacher Domprobst Spätlese #12 and a Graacher Domprobst Spätlese #5 from a producer like Willi Schaefer. The #12 and #5 are the AP numbers.

But if a producer feels a certain bottling is very special, he/she can also give the wine a "Gold Capsule" - literally. In German, the word is "Kapsul," so you'll often see this abbreviated to "GK."

GKs usually have higher levels of ripeness and are both more expensive and much rarer than their normal counterparts.

2,500 years ago, the first vines were planted in Bandol, making it one of the oldest vineyards in France. In the years since, the region nestled into the hills a hop, skip and jump away from the Mediterranean has kept mostly quiet on the world market, while the most wine savvy have recognized Bandol as one of the most noble wine regions in the world.

Mourvèdre, the star grape of the show in Bandol, responds best to plenty of sun and warm weather bookended by cool nights to achieve proper ripeness, conditions which describe Provence perfectly. The grape also particularly likes limestone soil, which is mixed with silicon in this unique little microclimate.

The red wines of Bandol are known for their brooding tannins, earthy, herbal, smoky notes and their distinct sense of wildness. In youth, they deserve a hefty decant, but they're really at their best with age. The 2004 Pradeaux has, at the least, another decade in it and deserves a spot in the well-rounded cellar.

...2009 Germany, please meet the newspaper of record.

This morning, Asimov has reviewed some 2009 Spätlesen from the Mosel. You can read the article here - Willi Schaefer did very, very well (and yes, it's all sold out), as did the young Stefan Steinmetz (we have some available).

In any event, we'd just like to take this moment to put the great 2009 Germans back in the spotlight with the strong recommendation to buy now if you're going to buy, because it's a short vintage that is well priced and the more and more I drink them, the better I think they are.

We have 117 2009 German wines available (including both wines that are in-stock and pre-arrivals) which has to be the largest selection just about anywhere.

You'll find AJ Adam, Becker, Clüsserath, Diel, Dönnhoff, Dr. Siemens, Emrich-Schönleber, Haag, Hart, Immich-Batterieberg, Karthauserhof, Keller, Lauer, Leitz, Egon Müller, JJ Prüm, Willi Schaefer, Schäfer-Fröhlich, Schloss Lieser, Spreitzer, Steinmetz, Van Volxem, Von Othegraven and Zilliken.

Whew.

From the top dry wines to Auslesen and beyond.

Click here to read my 2009 German Vintage Report.

A quick word about the half bottle: While large-format bottlings are coveted by collectors for their ability to stand the test of time, the half-bottle is doted on by and loved all the more for its ability to zip into the future ahead of us - delivering the pleasures of tomorrow, today.

The chemistry (or is it physics?) here is pretty simple; a similar amount of air trapped in the bottle with roughly half the amount of liquid, thus the air to wine ratio is much more severe. That said, this format also offers the perfect amount of wine for the quiet evening, doling out about 2 and a half glasses.

With all this acclaim, why don't you see more half bottles of great wines? The answers are simple: the glass for halves is more expensive, the bottle requires a smaller label (read: increased printing costs), and in some cases different bottling machinery.

Lambrusco's acidity and bubbles make it the perfect complement to the rich, largely pork-based cuisine of Emilia-Romagna, which is generally considered some of Italy's best. The acidity, bubbles and low tannins make Lambrusco a great partner for cheeses and spicy Asian foods as well. Overall, it's very versatile at the table.

Commonly thought of as just one grape, Lambrusco actually refers to a great big family of similar varietals growing mainly in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, though there are also plantings in Lombardy and elsewhere. The vine originated in the wild before it was domesticated; it now boasts more than 60 strains, the most common being Sobara, Salamino (its grape bunches are said to look like salami,) and the red-stemmed Grasparossa. Sorbara is prized for it's lightness and elegance, while Grasparossa is the fullest and most powerful, and Salamino falls somewhere between the two.

Slightly more confusing, Lambrusco zones often share their names with their area's most common strain: In the area of Castelvetro it's Grasparossa, in Santa Croce it's the Salamino strain, and Sobara is associated with the plains north of Modena that surround a village of the same name. A fourth area, Lambrusco Reggiano, is home to a lot of bulk production and is extensively planted with high-yielding strains and Salamino.

Classic Lambrusco can be made either dry or amabile, which means off-dry or just slightly sweet. While typically red, there are both rosés and whites based on Lambrusco grapes as well.

The wines can be made sparkling through either the Charmat method (secondary fermentation takes place in a pressurized tank) or through the more traditional method where secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle.

There is nothing like pizza from Brooklyn. The thin crispy crust, deliciously savory red sauce, fresh mozza and, in the summertime, a profusion of garden green basil that makes it refreshing enough to enjoy in the heat... Yummm! Hold your hot sauce and blue cheese, Buffalo, Brooklyn has you beat.

As France's oldest wine region, Provence has been making wine - and specifically rosé - for 2,600 years. Around 600 BC, the ancient Greeks rolled into southern France with vines in tow. At the time, all wines were rosé, as they hadn't yet experimented with extended macerations for deeper red wines from black grapes.

By the time the Romans came (and named the area Provincia Romana), the area had a reputation across the Mediterranean for outstanding rosés.

In the Middle Ages, the local abbeys made rosé wine as a revenue source for monasteries, and as time crept into the 14th century, nobility and military leaders took over vineyard management, and rosé became the classic wine of kings and aristocrats.

In the 20th century, increased tourism along the Cote d'Azur increased rosé production and its reputation, and today modern techniques and inspired winemakers have improved the character and quality of Provence’s rosés.