Domaine de la Bégude is run by the seventh generation of the Tari Family, which hails from Château Giscours in Bordeaux's Margaux. As such, not only is this deeply-colored rosé typical of Bandol, it is also akin to the clairette style of rosé from Bordeaux. This Bandol Rosé is truly a rosé for all seasons.
Read MoreKind of Wild Wines hit all the right buzz words for today's concerned and informed consumer: "Made with Organic Grapes", "Supporting Organic Growers", "Free of Unwanted Additives", "Sustainable for Soil Health" and "1% to Environmental Partners" are some of their taglines. Mind you, only one of those snippets means anything legally.
Read MoreThis is the third Côté Mas that I have tasted in the last few years. The wines show clear familial style, but the 2019 is the most sophisticated yet.
Read MoreJoachim Splichal collaborated with his sons, Nicolas and Stéphane, and the winemaking team of rosé specialist Bruno Tringali to craft the fourth vintage of this estate-grown and decidedly Provençal pink. It is a highly inviting and complex blend of Grenache 48%, Cinsault 35%, Rolle (a.k.a. Vermentino) 6%, Syrah 5%, Carignan 4% and Grenache Blanc 2%.
Read MoreI recently tasted through several higher-end duos of varietal Paso comparisons. Between the different soils, climates, elevations, grapes and winemaking techniques, I couldn't come to conclusions on terroir distinctions via the selection below. However, I certainly can say that the wines are dependably good - as evidenced by the scores - and that there is a style for just about everyone.
Read MoreTroon Vineyard 2018 Vermentino Kubli Bench Applegate Valley: Sleek and sexy, this is an enticing Vermentino. It has full-throttle flavor and an intriguing combination of structure and texture that keeps me going back to the glass. The flavors are so subtle as to be elusive. A whiff of flint. A wave of spring flowers. A suspicion of peach pit. It's like a game of catch-what-you-can as the wine evolves in the glass.
Read MoreNortheastern Spain's Cariñena region takes its name from a black grape variety supposedly "born" - or at least originally discovered - there, even if a different black grape variety, Garnacha, is the dominant grape in the region today. While it follows easily enough that a region known for its red wine production may also make rosado, or rosé, it might be surprising that there's white wine crafted there, too. In the end, this all seems very natural. After all, wine - from anywhere - is full of contradictions!
Read MoreSeven years ago Stefano Casadei and Fred Cline met over dinner for the first time. Now they are making a wine named Casadei, a total heart-throb red, together. That's not all. The Cline family is importing Stefano's Castello del Trebbio wines, too. Saluti!
Read MoreBarton & Guestier 2018 Côtes de Provence Tourmaline: …the wine tastes great, too. It starts with a refreshing blast of pink grapefruit and strawberry hull. Vinous and dry, there's a nicely pithy grip on the mineral-driven finish.
Read MoreIt's easy for reds to feel ponderously heavy in the summer, especially when they are concentrated, elevated in alcohol and lavished with new oak. But, we all still want to drink red wines from time to time during warm weather. Leave it to the out-of-the-box renegade - and seriously good palate and globe-trotting winemaker - Ernst Loosen to find not only a solution but also a very gently priced one. Moreover, the wines come from France's Languedoc, a region formerly strapped with the reputation of producing clumsy, jammy wines.
Read MoreI met Joachim Splichal when I was the National Wine Director for Smith & Wollensky Restaurant group. Smith & Wollensky was publicly traded and a hostile take-over was underway. His Patina Restaurant Group purchased the Smith & Wollensky restaurants outside of New York City, and I figured I'd never again cross paths with him.
Read MoreBeckmen Vineyards 2017 Cuvée Le Bec Santa Ynez Valley: I am delighted to be head over heels for this wine’s 2017 incarnation. It's got a soft and juicy texture with a sleek, supporting tannin structure and pithy acidity. It's spicy. It's bramly. It's chock full of blackberries and rimmed with black plum skin.
Read MoreThese two rosés surprised me.
I expected the Arrogant Frog to be the less expensive and less complex wine. This was without knowing that the Côté Mas wine is to be marketing in 1 liter bottles – my sample arrived in a 750 ml. Yes, I succumbed to label bias. Happily, it was only briefly.
Read MoreG*S*M 2015 Rogue Valley: This wine is noted to be an astonishingly precise 39.66% Syrah, 31.61% Mourvèdre, 16.06% Grenache and 12.67% Sangiovese! It is a pale-colored and youthful blend bursting with rose petals and spice box aromatics that eagerly show off its Grenache and Sangiovese portions.
Read MoreHaving visited Bulgaria twice for the Balkans International Wine Competition and having visited several wineries, I was thrilled when I was contacted to taste through a large number of Bulgarian wines coming into the US market.
Read MoreGarnacha in Cariñena? Yes, confusingly Cariñena is now more about Grenache than Carignan. But such changes could be expected in a region that – literally – drips with history. In 1415, King Ferdinand I of Aragon declared his love for wines from Cariñena, saying he preferred them “above all others”. (Presumably he was talking about wines made from Cariñena.) In 1773, Voltaire wrote in acknowledgment of a gift of wines from Cariñena, "If this wine is yours, it must be acknowledged that the Promised Land is near."
Read MoreGalil Mountain Winery 2016 Rosé Upper Galilee Galil Mountain: This is an utterly quixotic blend of varieties in the best way. It is delicious and made in a very giving style. It is a crazy combination of 77% Sangiovese, 12% Pinot Noir, 6% Barbera and 5% Grenache.
Read MoreI recently learned that Limoux was the second most-imported-to-the-USA French, traditional method sparkler after Champagne. Who knew?
Read MoreThis blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan offers a rich and welcoming nose of briar patch fruits entirely absent of oak influence. The tannins caress softly and the acidity lurks subtly. The voluptous and youthful loveliness of the very pure fruit make for easy sipping.
Read MoreGenerous in youthful fruit and near lavish in minerality. Blackberries, cassis and sage mesh with asphalt and animale.
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