I recently learned that Limoux was the second most-imported-to-the-USA French, traditional method sparkler after Champagne. Who knew?
Read MoreAs Pinot Noir from Burgundy becomes ever more expensive, I’ve been keen to learn more about some of the region’s more budget friendly Pinot Noirs. That search led to me the Yonne, Burgundy’s northernmost département
Read MoreBordeaux En Primeur 2016 was my first, verging-on-excellence En Primeur campaign. The top end turned out wines that were easy to be choosy about. So much the better when you’re forking over big digits two years before you receive the wines. The vintage also allowed for plenty of charming wines that will be pleasant to drink as well as ones that are overly ambitious. Regardless the appellation, it was exciting to see who teased out just a bit more of everything in their expressions of the vintage through their terroir.
Read MoreIt is the time of year I start thinking of summer-y wines: wines for lighter cuisine and wines for sipping in the sunshine. Albariño from Rías Baixas tackles both jobs with gusto. Here are two I’ve tasted recently from the freshest vintage on the market.
Read MoreI don’t drink a lot of Alsace wines, yet when I do, I remind myself to drink them more often. The same scenario repeated itself over the last week, as I tasted these three wines. So many wines, so little time. This time around, I’m thoroughly motivated to buy here, especially the Pinots, which offer fantastic value.
Read MoreThe wine world is abuzz with talk of dry Furmint. I even read last week that 2017 has been dubbed the “Year of Furmint.”
Read MorePeter Zemmer 2015 Pinot Nero Rolhütt: This bright, ruby red wine has a floral nose festooned with exotic spices. This crisp, cooler climate style of Pinot Nero (Noir) is best showcased at a table laid-out with lighter fare and offers brilliant value at just under a Jackson.
Read MoreNanny Goat 2015 Pinot Noir Central Otago: This is classic Otago. Rich in body but refreshingly acidic, it is packed with blueberries and mulberries. And, it’s all about the fruit - an abundance of fresh, zingy, super-pure fruit. No doubt that, with its elegantly lacy palate and fine, talc-like tannins, this is Pinot Noir, but there’s none of the earthiness or forest-floor one often finds.
Read MoreWith many reviving sectors of the lesser-known or somewhat forgotten corners of the wine world, it is easy to think there is just one region, one style or one grape. It happens often elsewhere. Just think of the US, California, Napa Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon. There’s a lot more to California wine than this one hallmark. So, it is no surprise that in a less well-known region like Hungary, stereotypes and simplifications happen all the time.
Read MoreThe results of the radical shake-up of Italian white wines over the last two decades continue to surface in the US markets, and this fall I had the chance to taste through a new range of wines available from Vias Wine. The wines of the grandly historic Castello di Spessa, which dates back to the 13th or 3rd century CE (either being plenty old!) offer an excellent representation of high quality winemaking with local varieties without wallet-emptying prices.
Read MoreThis wine defies my typical usage suggestions for sweet wines. I often think of sweet wines as “dessert in a glass”, or something that can replace dessert when thirst still calls yet the tummy is too full for more food. One of the primary differences here is that the Ben Ryé possesses a decadently sweet attack yet a surprisingly dry and clean finish.
Read MoreGrant P Taylor 2015 Pinot Noir Central Otago: This is brilliant Kiwi Pinot Noir. Stuffed with ripe boysenberries and tart cranberries, it runs through the full range of red and black fruits from the time you crack the capsule until you pour the last dribble.
Read MoreDavid Finlayson 2013 Chenin Blanc Single Vineyard Old Vine Camino Africana 13.5%: This characterful wine is composed of fruit harvested from bush vines planted in the Bottelary Hills of Stellenbosch in 1947. These vines are some of the oldest in the Cape.
Read MoreSokol Blosser 2013 Pinot Noir Estate Orchard Block Dundee Hills: This is much too young to open now. Had I only known! This is a feisty kiddo now that needs some time to settle down and expand its horizons further.
Read MoreDonnafugata 2015 Grillo Sur Sur: This wine’s color looks pale, like lemon pulp in color. It’s savory on the nose with notes of crushed slate, grapefruit zest and veggie broth. This is a relatively lean Grillo – and all the better this, rather than some of the variety’s more blowsy expressions – that is nonetheless character-filled.
Read MoreI’ve had some lovely wines from Michigan. Most of those I’ve tasted have been white wines, and the vast majority have been highly imbibable. In fact, there have been enough good ones that I am eager to continue tasting other wines from the region. That’s often not typical for an up-and-coming area.
Read MoreCoppo 2010 Barbera d’Asti Pomorosso: This is swank wine. It is sweet with unabashedly youthful fruit highlighted by savory touches of enticing development, like fallen autumn leaves and damp clay. This wine dances on the edges of palate happiness.
Read MoreTrinchero 2012 Forte Napa Valley: This estate-grown wine boasts exceptional concentration. In fact, it’s a bit of a monster! It is inky black in color, bold in its full body and strident in grainy tannins. Alas, this is a classic case of a high-end wine seeing a retail shelf or restaurant wine list far before its time, even if it is now four years post-vintage.
Read MoreChatzivaritis 2015 Rhoditis Eurynome: Rhoditis means rose, and this variety absolutely brings tremendous fragrance into the glass. The bottling also has a cleverly disguised, 21% of the “acid black” variety Xinomavro made in a blanc de blancs fashion. The palate is full of honeydew and Canary melons with whispers of gingerbread.
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