Tasted on the Celebrity Millennium  Cruise ship off the coast of Alaska.  It is 100% Syrah.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is earthy with black raspberries, char and black pepper.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, black raspberries with underlying char.  A bitter note on the finish.  This is drinking well on its own and would work with big meat dishes.  Drink over the next seven to ten years.  

Consumed on the Celebrity Millennium off the coast of Alaska.  Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is earthy with black raspberries and slight bacon fat.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, black cherries with black raspberries and underlying char.  Long finish.  This is starting to show a bit of maturity but will continue to develop more.  It drinks great on its own, but better with food.  Cassoulet would be classic, but this will go well with Indian food, too.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.  

This is a blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc.  It is a beautiful wine.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is lovely with cassis, slight black cherries, cedar and char.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  On the palate, young, firm and deep.  This needs time to open but still provides a lot now.  Cassis, and cedar with underlying char.  Long finish.  This is great on its own and would work with a steak right now.  Still, cellar for five years then drink for fifteen after that.  

This wine comes from north east Italy.  It is a blend of Corvina, Rondinella, Corvinone and Negrara grapes.  To make a Ripasso styles wine, the wine, after fermentation, is poured over the leftover pomace from the Amarone.  This gives the wine a bit more stuffing than a regular Valpolicella.  Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, Heering liqueur, and spice.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, this is tasty with cherries and black cherries with underlying char and spice.  Long finish.  Nice on its own, but better with food.  This would g

This is a more accessible style of Barolo.  Ruby in color with slight browning (normal even in a young Barolo).  Clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, anise, cranberries, and a very slight floral quality.  Medium to full bodied.  Very firm tannins.  Good acidity.  On the palate, cherries and slight rhubarb note with underlying char and slight anise.  Long finish.  This drinks easy for such a young Barolo, but this should continue to mature over the next five to seven years.  Either way, it should drink well of ten years.  Nice on its own, but this wine was made to go with food.  Pasta w

This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon made with organic grapes in Mendocino, California.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is classic with cassis, dust and graphite.  Firm tannins.  Full bodied.  Good acidity.  If you are looking for a big fruit bomb California Cab, this is not it.  It is ripe with no green notes, but it is more of a classic, food friendly style.  Cassis with slight graphite notes with an underlying earthiness.  Nice finish.  This drinks well on its own but is better with food.  Of course a steak, but this would work really nicely with Roasted Root vegetables.

This is a proprietary blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot from Mendocino, California.  The wine is made from organic grapes.  Purple in color, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose has black raspberries, plums, black cherries, and slight spice.

This is a first and foremost, a very nice Merlot.  But before talking about that it is worth noting that this wine is made without added sulfites.  They accomplish this by using the Purovino® method.  From the company's web site:  "The purovino® method is based on controlled hyperoxygenation on wine grapes and a CIP process of all the equipment with ozone-enriched water.  After the harvest, grapes are fumigated with a specific concentration of activated oxygen that induces  a controlled oxidative stress.

This is a dry (Sec) Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley in France.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with tangerines, sea air, baked apples and char.  Full bodied.  Good acidity.  Very nice slightly oily texture.  On the palate, green apples with an interesting chervil note.  Long finish.  This is still young but drinking well.  Nice on its own, this is also very food friendly.  It would pair nicely with pork chops.  Drink over the next ten years.  

This is a dry Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley in France.  Silvery/green/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is interesting with red apples, crushed rocks, Linden leaves, and a slight orange peel note.  Full bodied.  Lovely "slick" texture.  On the palate, crushed rocks/minerality, and red apples with a nice backbone of acidity.  Long finish.  This is young and vibrant but will round out with some age.  It should drink well for another ten more years.  A nice wine for Thai or Chinese food, but this would also be great with fried chicken.