Justin Vineyards & Winery - a pioneer in the Santa Lucia Mountains well before the Paso Robles AVA was even thought of - is known for its charasmatic, gusto-filled wines. Nearing its 40th anniversary celebration, the Justification and Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles, especially, show the gravitas of their legacy.
Read MoreThe Lilliano Chianti Classico wines are crushingly good in two senses: they are so delicious that they are drinkably crushable, and they give so much value-for-money that they are crushingly good values. This applies to all three DOCG levels: Chianti Classico, Riserva and Gran Selezione. Everyone likes a good value year-round, and everyone particularly appreciates one after the holiday season.
Read MoreI never would have imagined that in my Wine Experiences pieces that I would relay a letter that I wrote to plea for the future viability of the US wine industry. The US trade wars have reached new lows that, if enacted, will deeply damage the US marketplace, currently the largest in the world. Here is the letter that I submitted to the United States Trade Representative today.
Read MoreMi Sueño Winery 2016 Syrah Napa Valley: This full-bodied, opaque wine carries its weight with style. This is hardly surprising for a Mi Sueño wine; they typically show very good balance. This Syrah is a textbook example of its Napa origin as well as its single grape variety.
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 MoreI've been visiting Guillaume for four or five years, and his wines are scintillating every time. He easily makes it into my 2018 Top 10 List. Guillaume's wines are made with as much TLC as his vines are tended. Guillaume finds the 2018 to be a "pretty vintage with good structure", adding there was no need to acidify. Moreover, he never has, not even in 2003. The wines below are listed in the order of tasting.
Read MoreSo, what about 2018 Chablis? First, there's a lot of it. Second, the excellent, the good and the "meh" abound. Winemakers had a lot to contend with in the vineyards as well as in the cellars, making making the sundry results unsurprising. Fear not. If you know your budget (and do be aware in advance of the impacts the Trump administration's implemented and pending tariffs) and have a sense of your style preferences, and you'll do just fine.
Read MoreIsabelle Raveneau hired 33% more harvest helpers to bring in her 2018 crop. For the first time since 2011, her cellar was full; the domaine's full yield potential was reached. Moreover, she called the grapes "excellent", and Isabelle is not one to embellish. Neither the warmth of the vintage nor the house style marked the wines as much as their terroirs. In a region as distinctly diverse in terroir and as laser-focused on a single variety as Chablis, I always find that thrilling.
Read More"A lot of great wine was distilled in 2018," Vincent Dauvissat lamented. Vincent had never seen a vintage like 2018 - unprecedented, high volumes coupled with top quality. (At least chez lui, I'll insert with regard to the last bit. Not everyone was as successful as he was in managing the 2018 vintage.) Quelle frustration!
Read MoreToday is my last full day in Rome, so it seemed appropriate to share a few notes on the wines of Paolo e Noemia d'Amico, whose vineyards lie just 90 minutes north of The Eternal City. The duo's range includes five whites and four reds sourced from their property edged by extinct volcanos. The vineyard soils are tufa, as are the cellars. Paolo and Noemia, engaging in their second career together - this time in winemaking, began planting their vines here in 1985.
Read MoreFattoria Selvapiana has been a family business based high in the hills of Chianti Rufina for 133 years and five generations. These are wines of finesse and fragrance, whatever the vintage. Don't let the seemingly high alcohol levels lead you astray. Their refined balance delivers harmony via their multi-sensory experiences. The icing on the cake is the organic certification for all of the vineyards.
Read MoreYarden Wines 2015 Petit Verdot Galilee: The black currant, sloe and dark chocolate flavors sweep across the palate then veer into a toasty tasting and pleasantly tannic finish. The mouthwatering acidity kept my table reaching for their glasses. I might have been surprised at how quickly we finished the bottle, but I've had the same thing happen with many a Yarden wine before.
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 MoreChic and sleek, the single vineyard wines of Casarena will impress. The beautiful packaging, delicious wines and fair prices will thrill both the giver and the receiver this holiday season and beyond.
Read MoreIt's not often that I see a wine bearing the USDA Organic symbol. This is even more true of an imported wine. So, I was especially curious to taste these wines. It turns out that they sit squarely in the "natural" spectrum, as I expected.
Read MoreRhône Valley white wines generally are overlooked, save a few collectibles. Considering that only 6% of the region's volume of wine is white, that might not sound surprising. However, the Rhône Valley is France's second largest AOC. Still, it does turn out to be a very small amount of white wine when you run the math. Burgundy makes almost five times as much white wine in a good harvest! So, while everyone else is clamoring for hard-to-find Burgundies with much heftier price tags, shop for some of these rarer and far less pricey Rhône blancs!
Read MoreLa Valentina works exclusively with local varieties, also making the region's historical "giant" Trebbiano and Fiano. While the Pecorino and La Spelt Montepulciano kept stride with my expectations, I was a bit disappointed in the workhorse Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.
Read MoreDominio del Plata 2018 Malbec Crios Valle de Uco: Boldly brambly, this bracingly fresh Malbec screams varietal character, especially those typically coming from cooler climate Malbec. Behind the pristine pure fruit lies a gentle, seamless stream of tannin that gives the palate shape. However, it's the exuberantly fresh acidity that defines the tension here. I believe that it's one of the best Crios Malbecs of the many, many, many vintages that I have tasted.
Read MoreThe back label is signed "Viens Avec Nous", which means "Come With Us". While I wonder how many people understand that in the US, it does manage to seem appropriate for this blend of some of the Willamette Valleys "best of" (a nod to Jay Boberg's time in the music industry) vineyards. These include Nicolas-Jay's own Bishop Creek along with Temperance Hill, Hyland, Knight's Gambit and Momtazi.
Read MoreBoth of these wineries in the hands of the Tasca family sit on islands off the coast of Sicily. Mozia Island and Fondazione Whitaker sit in a lagoon to the north of Marsala on Siciliy's western coast while Tenuta Capofaro is on Salina Island on Sicily's northeastern side. I adore highly scented dry whites, and both wines definitively make my "fave" list, hence the "*" notations.
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