Olianas 2016 Vermentino di Sardegna: Star-bright and dark yellow, this wine has an open and inviting nose. It smells of peach skin, heather and Green Chartreuse.
Read MoreRolando and Lorena Herrera’s small production (430 cases) Chardonnay is a richly scented and highly textured wine that appeals to lovers of exotic Chardonnay styles.
Read MoreTerras Gaudo 2015 Albariño O Rosal: Waxy, succulent and silky, this is a different class of Albariño. It is astonishingly mouth-filling and creamy for a 12.5% abv wine.
Read MoreI've been tasting these wines in consecutive vintages for about four years now, and I love every vintage. This is superior juice offered at reasonable prices. Don't miss out!
Read MoreRocca Sveva 2015 Soave Castelcerino: YES! This is a delightfully full-flavored wine with oodles of lemony acidity balancing the creamy, custardy palate. The beautifully scented nose starts with heather and anise then veers into Canary melon, Meyer lemon, pomelo and mirabelle plums on the rather weighty (for Soave) palate.
Read MoreDeep ruby in color with a black cherry core, this Amarone’s succulent attack quickly turns brooding on the palate. It layers on flavors of cassis, black raisins and shriveling figs, meat, peat and salumi.
Read MoreAfter tasting this, I went back to my note on the 2012, which I tasted in early 2017. I maintain my stance that this remains an ambitious cuvée, but this vintage also misses the mark. Moreover, this vintage misses by a much larger margin.
Read MoreI recall putting the 2006 Star Lane Sauvignon Blanc Dierberg on the wine list at JG Steakhouse in Scottsdale, Arizona, when I was the Director of Culinary Concepts by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. I had tasted the Sauvignon Blancs of Star Lane plenty of times, so I can’t fathom today why I have no recollection of the Cabernet Sauvignon.
Read MoreDomaine Paul Mas NV Blanquette de Limoux Méthode Ancestrale St. Hilaire: Whoa! This bubbly has a honeysuckle-driven nose with a peach pie palate! It’s not often I taste pure Mauzac, yet this one packs plenty of come-hither attraction that reminds me it’s a great way to finish off a meal.
Read MoreThis wine really started to shine on the third day after I opened it. Once fully opened, this wine is a mosh pit of smashed mulberries and smoky spices wrapped up in a velvet coat of smooth, even sumptuous tannins with a fine point of chewiness on the medium finish.
Read MoreI hope this wine will be made only once. I write that only because of the extraordinary circumstances under which it was created, not because of the wine. The wine is perfectly delightful.
Read MoreAs the #NapaFires and #SonomaFires are burning, it has been a poignant time to turn to some wines from the region to think about how exciting their multi-faceted expressions can be. With this tasting, I'm delighted yet again to be tasting a something totally off-the-radar for Napa: Grenache Blanc.
Read MoreThe 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.
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