Wine Recommendations

The Lonely Slog of Farming Right: Does Anyone Really Care About Organic and Sustainable Wine?

Perhaps one of the worst professions in America today is to be a farmer. A constant stream of unknowns pummels you: Rainfall (too much or too little), fluctuating crop prices, expensive farming equipment, a fickle buying public, bank loans, a host of pests destroying your crop, erratic subsidies...

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Pondering Pinot Noir: Is the Grape Really That Good?

Imagine your friends describe you as “ethereal, finicky, difficult, sensitive, troublesome,” and even “persnickety.” This might prompt you to read a number of self-help books – but Pinot Noir is OK with itself. At the 2019 iteration of the World of Pinot Noir, a celebration of all Pinot all the...

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ABC (Anyone Buying Chard?) - The Character Assassination of Chardonnay

Chardonnay seems like a one-trick pony with a bad leg. And in wine, as in life, reality is irrelevant and perception is power. Enter Chardonnay, the grape everyone loves to hate. In the early 2000s the “Anything But Chardonnay” movement (albeit lackluster and myopic from the start) promoted exactly...

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Smackdown Port –v- U.S. Ports

Port: It confuses most and only satisfies some. It is misunderstood; much maligned and yet offers one of the best drinking experiences on the planet. It’s easy to misconstrue Port as merely a sweet one-trick-pony. But true Port from the Douro Valley in Portugal is not a one-trick anything. Since...

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The Top Wines of 2018

It’s that time again. As the end of the year draws near, it is natural to look back over the past year. That includes considering the wines enjoyed this past year. Drinking wine involves so many qualities. What we drank, who we drank wine with and when we drank them. The “best” wines aren’t always...

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Smackdown: French Champagne -v- California Sparklers

The French may have invented sparkling wine, hailing from the Champagne region of France, but every wine producing country has their own version of bubbles: Cava in Spain, Prosecco in Italy, sparkling in America. “Champagne is the Mecca of all sparkling wine lovers, with a rich history,” says...

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French Champagne –v- California Sparklers

Me, Merlot & I: Drinking Merely Merlot

For the last six years, October has been designated as (hashtag) MerlotMe, a month long campaign to get people to drink more Merlot. Don’t people already drink Merlot? Well, yes, it’s the second most planted red grape behind Cabernet Sauvignon. Here in the US there’s still residual Sideways Merlot...

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Wine of The Week – Graham’s 20 Year-Old Tawny Port - 93 Points

The misunderstanding of Port is that it is either for the winter months, or merely an after dinner drink. Yet neither is exclusive. Graham’s 20-Year-Old Tawny bridges all the gaps. Using a variety of Ports from five different vineyard sites, this 20-Year-Old is drinking extremely well right now...

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Wine of The Week – 2015 Domaine Carneros The Famous Gate Pinot Noir - 91 Points

One of the beautiful things about Pinot Noir is that with so many different clones that can go into making it, Pinot provides diverse expressions. In the case of The Famous Gate, a wine Domaine Carneros has made for 25 years, the composition is 87% Swan, 9% Dijon 115 and 4% Pommard UCD-5.

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Wine of The Week - 2016 Gallica Albariño - 90 Points

Albarino is one of Spain and Portugal’s signature grapes, but Albarino from California is another matter altogether. Typically forgettable when grown in California, Gallica has found the secret to Albariño’s success by finding the correct vineyard - this one from Calaveras County - a plot at 2,100 feet elevation, and treating it with enough love that, though it stylistically differs from its Spanish brethren, it is successful in its own right.

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Wine Recommendations

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