The family-run Michele Chiarlo has been harvesting native Piemontese grape varieties for over sixty years. Today, Stefano and Alberto, the sons of Michele, run the winery. I taste the Chiarlo wines from time to time, admittedly mostly at industry tastings. So, I appreciated this opportunity to “work through” a bottle of the family’s Barbera over a leisurely dinner.
Read MoreFEL Wines is the newborn of the Cliff Lede duo of wine estates. Lede began his wine adventures in Napa in 2002, making Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. I distinctly remembering visiting in 2006 and tasting those first wines. They were good, so it isn’t too surprising the company’s expansion into the Anderson Valley is making good juice.
Read MoreI love wines from Alto Adige. Lodged between the rest of Italy and Austria - with a sliver of its borders against Switzerland, the region’s producers craft wines with Italian exuberance and Austrian precision. Moreover, the dynamics of the Alpine duo of chilly temperatures and sunshine taste delicious in the glass.
Read MoreThis new wine delivers enormous QPR. The Gloria Ferrer wines always have, but this wine really outdoes itself!
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 MoreI adore Vermentino (aka Rolle, Pigato and Favorita) for its floral nose scented with honeysuckle, yellow pears and sometimes star fruit. While I’ve tasted it in its many forms for a long time, my keen interest began only about six years ago, as I noticed that many places other than Tuscany, Sardegna, Corsica and the Languedoc were making Vermentino.
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 MoreWhoa! This youthful Nebbiolo packs a powerful punch. It is as vibrantly driven with red currant and dried red cranberry fruit as much as it is by punchy tannins and invigorating acidity. Its perfume is heady with dried rose petals and anise.
Read MoreCantina Riff Progetto Lageder 2016 Pinot Grigio: Light and lively, this refined and flavorful Pinot Grigio smells of Key Lime lime zest and tastes of cracked white peppercorns and white grapefruit.
Read MoreProsecco recently has seen a tidal wave of change at every quality level. The popularity of the DOC wines has driven global markets for sparkling wines in recent years, making even Champagne sweat.
Read MoreSince I last tasted Troon wines, in Southern Oregon in July 2013, the winemaker and winemaking approach have changed. They were pleasant before, so I was curious to see what I would fine in the wines post-makeover. I'm happy to report that this Southern Oregon pioneer continues to push boundaries in the right direction.
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 MoreAlois Lageder 2015 Pinot Gris Porer: Defying the flavor profile of so many Pinot Grigios, this Alto Adige-derived, Porer single vineyard delivers concentrated flavors of yellow apple skin, golden raisins, freshly-baked baguette and cracked white pepper.
Read MoreLaurel Glen 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Mountain Estate: Built entirely of Cabernet Sauvignon from 50-year-old vines, this wine stopped me in my tracks. It is the epitome of North Coast California elegance.
Read MoreLaurel Glen 2016 Rosella Rosé Sonoma Mountain: The story goes that a single stip of old vines dating back to the 1880s gives the flavor backbone of this wine. Can it really be "just" a row or two or three? "Just" a patch of vineyard? Whatever it is precisely, I love this wine.
Read MoreHailing from a corner of Lazio that overlaps Umbria – almost smack in the center of Italy, this family-run estate makes wines primarily from international grape varieties. Whereas most Italian wines made from “outsider” grapes tend to be rich and boisterous, these are all incredibly graceful.
I am so jazzed to see so many full-throttle, high-quality wines arriving to the US shores from South Africa these days. At last! I used to drink most of this country’s ambitious to high quality wines almost soley in the UK. Here are some of my latest tastings of SA wines in New York City. I loved every one of these bottles.
Read MoreCVNE 2011 Rioja Reserva Viña Real: I tasted one ounce of this wine each day for three days before I wrote a note on that third day. I would decant it at breakfast and leave it until dinner - with zero trepidation.
Read MoreThese two Malbecs supersede their different-ends-of-the-scale price points. Importantly, they offer an interesting contrast of Malbec possibilities. The US is high quality-oriented. Not all of Argentina’s export markets are so picky.
Read MoreFabulously pure, this wine is replete with fragrances and flavors of field strawberry-water and watermelon essence. That is to say that it is rather delicate. Elegant and discreet, however, are not suggestions of weakness.
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