JebDunnuck.com

Some Memorial Day reading for you... Our first report on the wines of Chile!

Dear Subscribers,

Chile is having a moment of reckoning and reinvention.

Long known as one of the world’s leading sources of reliable, value-driven wines, the country is now showing a much more dynamic and ambitious side. From the bone-dry Atacama Desert in the north to the cool, windswept valleys pushing toward Patagonia in the south, Chile offers an extraordinary range of climates, soils, and old-vine material.

In her new report, Virginie Boone explores a country increasingly focused on place, identity, and intention. Producers are rediscovering historic grapes such as País and Carignan, refining cool-climate Pinot Noir and Syrah, and pushing Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenère to new heights.

A First Look At The Wines Of Chile
"There's renewed excitement too around Pais, a red grape brought by Spanish missionaries centuries ago to make sacramental wine. Winemakers are rediscovering old vines and at times using ancient winemaking methods to resurrect it in both rustic and refined wines." - Virginie Boone

Dear Subscribers,

Our Bordeaux 2025 En Primeur report is ready, and this is a vintage worth talking about!

Jeb takes an in-depth, analytical look at this vintage; a singular, good-to-great year, concentrated, fresh, and structurally unlike anything we've seen in recent memory, drawing comparisons to a modern-day 1961. The wines are brilliant at their best, the value story beyond the headline names is strong, and the pricing debate is very much alive. Plus, an honest critical look at 2025 pricing and a clear framework for when buying En Primeur actually makes sense in this market.

Bordeaux 2025 En Primeur: A Modern 1961
"1961 is perhaps the closest match from a growing season standpoint, with the structural facts lining up point for point. The difference between the two vintages is six decades of viticultural and winemaking evolution. In essence, you can think of 2025 as 1961 expressed through modern Bordeaux, and that translation is the defining story of the vintage...
The headline surprise is that a hot, drought-defined growing season produced wines this fresh, with this little alcoholic weight. The mechanism is partly atmospheric, driven by cool nights and the late-August rain, and partly physiological: under sustained heat stress, vines shut down, and the fact that few estates will state this plainly does not change what the analytical numbers show." - Jeb Dunnuck

https://jebdunnuck.com/2026/05/bordeaux-2025-en-primeur-a-modern-1961/

Dear Subscribers,
In this new article, Virginie Boone explores Washington State's outstanding 2023 vintage. She highlights the wines and producers that stood out, offers a first look at the promising 2024s, and reflects on the broader shifts reshaping the region, from evolving consumer tastes to a contracting industry finding its footing in a changing climate.

Washington’s Exceptional 2023s, And the Beginnings of the 2024s
"When it works it works. And in 2023, Washington enjoyed cooler weather, making for one of the smallest harvests on record but also one of the best in terms of freshness." - Virginie Boone

https://jebdunnuck.com/2026/04/washingtons-exceptional-2023s-and-the-beginnings-of-the-2024s/

Dear Subscribers,
Audrey Frick reports from Barolo and Barbaresco on the 2022 vintage, a season defined by relentless heat and drought unlike anything the region has faced in modern memory. Against all odds, many of the resulting wines deliver genuine balance and charm. She also offers an early look at 2023 Barbaresco, a retrospective on 2006 twenty years on, and a preview of what to expect from the 2024 releases across the broader Langhe.

New Releases from Barolo and Barbaresco with a Focus on 2022 and 2023 - JebDunnuck.com This report looks at the current and upcoming releases from Barolo and Barbaresco, along with a retrospective on the 2006 vintage 20 years on. The focus is largely on 2022 from both regions, with an early look at 2023 Barbaresco from producers who do not over-vintage their wines. The 2022... Read Mo...

Jeb Dunnuck sits down with Joey Tensley, one of California's most quietly dedicated Syrah producers, taking a deep dive into the wines and tracing nearly 25 years of flagship cuvées that make a compelling case for Santa Barbara County as one of the grape's great homes.

25 Years of Colson Canyon: A Retrospective with Joey Tensley - JebDunnuck.com This article looks at the flagship cuvées of Joey Tensley, who has quietly been making some of the greatest Syrahs and Syrah blends in California for decades now. This tasting offered a rare chance to sit down and go through his wines in depth as well as take a look... Read More

Bordeaux’s 2023s are now in bottle. See how they performed in a far from straightforward year:

Bordeaux 2023: From Bottle - JebDunnuck.com This report looks at the 2023 Bordeaux now from bottle. I came away more impressed with the vintage than I expected to be, and I found the wines not only better, but more consistent than they showed during En Primeur. At their best, the 2023s offer ripe fruit, polished tannins,... Read More