The Zachys Blog

From First Growths and Super Seconds to Cru Bourgeois and the AOC, discover how merchants, market prices, and history created the Left Bank hierarchy that still shapes Bordeaux today.

Learn how to read a Champagne label, from Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs to rosé, dosage, sweetness levels, grape varieties, and Coteaux Champenois.

From Heitz and Mayacamas to Harlan and Realm, explore how Robert Parker’s scoring era shaped Napa Cabernet and why the valley’s stylistic divide looks different today.

Discover the Imperial Collection, a remarkable single-owner cellar defined by rare large formats, extraordinary provenance, and iconic wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, California, and beyond.

Discover why collectors seek out large format wine bottles, from slower aging and greater scarcity to provenance, auction value, and the unmistakable experience of opening one.

Learn the fundamentals of building a wine collection, including proper storage, budgeting, diversification, provenance, and how to decide what wines to buy.

Meet Marpaout, a 900-bottle single-vineyard Merlot from Moulis that challenges Bordeaux tradition through distinctive terroir and an unconventional winemaking philosophy.

Learn the fundamentals of wine pairing and how acidity, tannin, sweetness, and other key elements can help guide better matches with food.

Discover how La Cena dei Mille celebrates Bolgheri wine, its producers, and the Tuscan tradition of sharing around one extraordinary table.

Chablis and the Côte de Beaune share the Chardonnay grape but produce distinctly different wines. Explore how climate, soils, and winemaking shape each style.

What separates New World wine from Old World wine? Explore how geography, climate, labeling, tradition, and winemaking philosophy shape what ultimately ends up in the glass.

Explore the difference between Grand Cru and Premier Cru Burgundy, from vineyard classifications and labeling rules to the history, consistency, and debate behind the region’s most prestigious sites.