Yet again, Rodney Strong has released some solid wines, especially at the value end of the spectrum. The Chalk Hill Chardonnay is a perennial star, and the 2017 Russian River Pinot Noir is especially tasty!
Read MoreBlueberries and mulberries galore! This wine is vividly fruit-driven on the nose. The palate delivers some slate and ashphalt tones, too. The finish offers measured refreshment, which feels nicely integrated despite the 15.2% alcohol.
Read MoreThe Cirq. and CHEV. are markedly ambitious wines, but they feel and taste rather forced.
Read MoreWinemaker Justin Seidenfeld clearly has a knack for blending based on these two wines in Rodney Strong Vineyard's relatively new Upshot line. The combination of varieties is delightfully unorthodox.
Read MoreIt’s always a treat to taste small production wines, and Andy Smith’s coveted DuMOL wines certainly fit that bill.
Read MoreTroon Vineyard 2019 Vermentino Amphora Amber: First opened, the wine smells of tangerine peel or orange zest and Marcona almonds. As it opens up, it expands into aromas of passion fruit green tea and star anise. The complexity is very compelling. However, don't open it with expectations of immediate pleasure.
Read MoreUS consumers have arrived later than many others to the threshold of lower alcohol wines - not surprising for a country whose wine industry largely is known for cranking out high-alcohol, blockbuster bottlings. It's no surprise that US wine production has been slow to pursue the idea. That stands in grand contrast to the Moscato craze seven to eight years ago. (Ironically, many of those Moscatos were lower in alcohol.) The Moscato craze was easier to develop as sweet, low alcohol Moscato has been made - and made well - for a very long time. However, developing a dry, flavorful, low-alcohol wine is much trickier. I admit that I wondered if these wines would be more like "sunny with a chance of flavor".
Read MoreHistory remains in the making at Pellegrini-Olivet Lane, as Alexia Pellegrini now commands the helm for the fourth generation. There is a steady, consistent winemaking hand here, and the wines are solidly good, even though only the rosé is a "wow".
Read MoreJordan 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley: This Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon leans toward the youthful side of the fence more than the aged one...just. It is drinking nicely now with pretty red-toned fruits, especially plums, as well as blackcurrants. Licorice, eucalyptus and tobacco tinges give the wine a good array of flavors. Overall, it's a savory style of wine…, even if its cuddly structure suggests it may not be the longest-lived red from Jordan.
Read MoreStonestreet Estate Vineyards 2019 Sauvignon Blanc: This lush, come-hither Sauvignon Blanc is dynamic from the first sniff. Its aroma is immediately engaging, with an impressive unleashing of Key lime, honeydew melon, guava and grapefruit.
Read MoreLiterally, it does take the stuff from that class that you had to take in high school. It also takes chemistry for two winemaking teams - and two palates per team - with different styles to come together and make wines that they all stand behind. Sourced from various Willamette Valley sites, these wines are the brain children of the winemakers of Chehalem Winery and Stoller Family Estate (under the same owner since early 2018). The Chemistry wines are a clever line-up that stylistically sit equidistant the palates of the two wineries. The real proof of this is in the Pinot Noir, Oregon's signature black grape.
I was wowed by the wines. Then, I did a double take when I looked at their prices. They seriously over-deliver for their price points!
Read MoreTwo years into the new ownership of Chehalem Winery, it is interesting to see how the winery is faring. The wines remain clean and pristine, and the prices of the most accessible wines remain exactly or about the same. Perhaps there are distinctions more visible further up the quality chain? At any rate, winemaker Katie Santora - with Chehalem since 2012, keeps the heartbeat steady here, from what I have tasted.
Read MoreI purchased these bottles recently as they seemed like solid solutions to my recent cravings for chillable reds to fight the heavy heat that has settled on New York City. Alas, I was reminded that lighter styles of red at gentle prices don't necessarily work with a chill. After all, both of these wines had some stuffing. These chilled reds wines were pleasant, but they weren't showing their best. So, I kept the wines for five days, trying them every day at chilled and cellar temperatures. As ever, I enjoyed the learning experience!
Read MoreThere is something undeniably charming about a winery whose back label illustration of its property highlights a tire swing. But make no mistake, Stoller Family Estate is a highly sophisticated operation. The winery's tasting room has been voted by USA Today's "10Best" as one of the Best Tasting Rooms in the US three times, and the visitor experience is going bleeding edge this summer with virtual and augmented reality experiences in a new and immersive Stoller Experience Center.
More importantly - at least in my view, the wines of 17-year, Stoller winemaking veteran Melissa Burr continue to impress, especially the 2019 white and rosé. Both also win points for being very good values.
Read MoreI love to learn new stories in the wine world, especially when those stories sprout from within the web of the older, already established ones. Priest Ranch, set in the eastern Vaca Range, is an example, as the historical property dates back to the 1860s.
And, while this is incredibly cool on its own, what is truly outstanding about the Priest Ranch wines is their sky-high value:quality ratio in a region that favors painfully expensive price points.
Read MoreIt was a pleasure to taste these wines made by J.Christopher founder, Jay Somers. While there are still a few vintages of Pinot Noir made by Jay to be released, this is the last of the white wines. (Jay left for a new venture in 2019.) These are worth looking into as there's not a single one that isn't charming!
Read MoreLast year, the impressive Maggie Kruse became the second head winemaker at Jordan Winery. She had honed her senses for the Jordan style for 13 years alongside the winery's iconic Rob Davis, Jordan's winemaker since the inaugural 1976 vintage. Moreover, she had onboarded just after John Jordan received the reins from his father after the 2005 harvest.
Read MoreRuss Langord reached out to me toward the beginning of the COVID19 shut-down in the US. I loved the idea of his - and his wife Sharon's - winery's message. What a good time - as is any, really - to talk about the principles on which they founded their venture: "lovemore dreammore sharemore"?
Read MoreThe proper use of hypens on the back labels of the Knudsen Vineyards wines told me that this family - now run by the second generation cast of Cal Jr., Page, Colin and David - clearly pays attention to details. That's a good thing as they have 230 acres (with 130 acres planted to vines) that they tend to, right in the heart of Dundee Hills. Not only do the Knudsens farm a lot of prime land, they've been doing it a long time. They've been caring for this former walnut orchard since 1971, making their vineyards some of Oregon's oldest.
Read MoreDAOU 2019 Rosé Paso Robles: First, this wine gets top scores for its beautiful bottle. Second, it smells and tastes great, too. With its plentiful peach, nectarine and apricot pits, it's summer in a glass!
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