Jessica Dupuy - All Comments

RE: From Stars to Words: How Brunello FORMA Is Redefining Vintage Evaluations

Keith Mattrick — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 19:54:24 GMT

This was a really fascinating article! Superb at conveying a wide variety of viewpoints on a rather exciting development on how to present and contextualize a vintage.

A few things I would have been more curious to learn about.

The way the word was presented in all-caps I thought ‘Forma’ might be an initialism or acronym of some sort, which made me curious of what it might be a shortening of. But looking at how the Consorzio presents it, all-caps are not used as it appears to be using the Italian word ‘forma’ as it is presenting the shape/fit/structural outline of a particular vintage. If that etylomogy/background was present in the article, I missed it, but I think it is helpful to highlight for folks like me who are not well-versed in Italian.
A criticism of the previous system was that the sensory analysis of the tasting panel was held too soon after harvest to provide a meaningful evaluation of the wines, but I wasn’t clear when the MW evaluation presented in the article took place specifically or in general when those evaluatory tasting panels take place under the new system versus the old system. Apologies if I missed it, but that was something I was curious about as well.
I’m sure to dive into it on my own, as this article has really sparked my interest. but is it typical to base evaluations of a vintage on bottles that are submissions chosen by the producers? The sample wouldn’t be expected to be representative of the underlying population and thus any assessments wouldn’t have much applicability beyond the 57 wines that were submitted.

Regardless, really exciting developments in the world of Brunello - thanks for getting me excited to dive into this!

RE: From Stars to Words: How Brunello FORMA Is Redefining Vintage Evaluations

Evan Davis CWE — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 12:40:06 GMT

Great article Jessica! This is a fascinating development. The stars, like wine scores attempted to distill something complex into an easily digestible reference. But they always lacked context, this seems to be a step forward in pushing people interested in these wines to think a bit deeper about the region of Montalcino. Very cool to see!

RE: Cava’s Renaissance

Skyler Ring — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 15:33:20 GMT

Fantastic piece! Thank you so much.

RE: Cava’s Renaissance

Bob Lipinski — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 01:53:36 GMT

Jessica.. excellent... thank you very much!

RE: Defining a New Italy

Mae Hardebeck — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 02:40:30 GMT

Great article! My wine bar's next area of focus is "New Italy," and this is so helpful to having a meaningful way to communicate why these wines are special to guests tableside.

RE: Savoring the Rhône Valley: The Flavors of an Iconic Region

Bridget West — Sat, 03 Aug 2019 23:48:12 GMT

Thank you for this! Love the recipes too!

RE: The Many Sides of Sustainability

Kelli White — Wed, 15 May 2019 23:58:38 GMT

[mention:46eb4e41b3f5407791abe3e32aeac2a0:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] can you comment on lutte raisonee and integrated pest management systems?

RE: The Many Sides of Sustainability

Francis Kulaga — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 21:06:13 GMT

Great article.

RE: The Many Sides of Sustainability

Alicia Ajolo — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 03:14:20 GMT

Thank you for covering this! I oversee a resort in Southern California and sustainability is very important and a hot topic here.

RE: The Many Sides of Sustainability

Robert Stelmachuk — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 17:38:51 GMT

Thank you for this Jessica! Hot topic for sure right now. 'Front line' Sommelier interaction can certainly help get the message out there and help spread the word. Impressive numbers from New Zealand!

RE: The Many Sides of Sustainability

Steven D Brown Certified Sommelier,CSW — Sat, 09 Feb 2019 21:52:53 GMT

This is an excellent article on a hot topic. I'm in Seattle and more of my customers have been going beyond lip-service and curiosity and are now trying hard to seek to the "best" wine for their palate and their planet. We are also endowed with a handful of retailers and on-premise businesses who are also fighting the good fight. The power of "industrial" wine is not to be ignored, they do control much of the gaming table but not all of the wine glasses. There can be riches in the niches!

RE: New Zealand: Beyond Sauvignon Blanc

Shannon Beserra — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 02:05:17 GMT

Ms. Dupuy, you did a wonderful job in describing the grape varietals, especially the Chardonnay. This helps me in comprehending the country's growth in cultivating wines from Champagne to Pinot Noirs.

RE: Emerging American Wine Regions: Part 1

Chris Bischoff — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 22:41:38 GMT

And brand new... The Upper Hudson AVA!! We went legal about a month ago... stretching from Amsterdam just west of Albany, up through to east of Saratoga... and ends in my front yard. :)

RE: Emerging American Wine Regions: Part 2

Kelly Coggins — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 16:08:42 GMT

Thoughtful and detailed. Thank you.

RE: Emerging American Wine Regions: Part 2

Jose luis Betancur — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 06:27:08 GMT

Amazing thank you so much for the study. We would love to see more!