My Morning With Aurelio

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My Morning With Aurelio

For many, 10 a.m. is a great time for a coffee break, but when Aurelio Montes, Jr., called me and suggested we get together at 10 to taste "something fresh," coffee was nowhere on the menu. His idea of fresh was a collection of fascinating new releases from one of my favorite wineries and an opportunity to catch up with one of South America's most interesting winemakers. All very tasteful, of course.

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A Vat Full of Miracles

/ Chateau Musar/
A Vat Full of Miracles

Few wines are as idiosyncratic and storied as Lebanon's Chateau Musar. The story of Musar is a story of determination, inspiration and faith (and no small amount of winemaking expertise). Winemaker Serge Hochar has ushered this wine through 50 vintages and says, "I am here because of war." His story, like his wine, is entrancing, and you will find it here on "Engaging the Senses."

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Going Nativa

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Going Nativa

The French refer to a vine's rootstock as it's pied or "foot," and it takes only the slightest bit of literary license to believe that, like a person, you don't understand a wine until you've walked in its vines' shoes, or at least where the vine puts its "foot." Today, I walk with the vines in the vineyard's of Chilean organic winery Nativa.

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