Last fall, Sebastiani Vineyards was one of the wineries I visited on my trip to Sonoma County.  If you’re ever doing a wine tour in the area I would recommend giving them a visit as they have a beautiful wine room with enormous old redwood casks.  It’s a sight to see. Sebastiani is a family-owned [...]

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Red Truck is a relatively young wine brand, but one I seem to see everywhere I go.  Perhaps it just stands out on the shelf with the big red truck on the label and I notice it more than other brands.  I have to give them credit for creating a memorable brand identity that breaks [...]

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I’ve tried a number of wines from Barefoot Wine and to be honest, I have a love/hate thing for them. I love the affordability of their wines. But I dislike the fact that their wines are non-vintage. I’ve mentioned this before, as well as my position that I don’t expect consistency when there isn’t a [...]

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Last month we reviewed the McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate Shiraz which was a good Shiraz—especially for the price.  And today we’re giving the Merlot from this brand a try. Like the Shiraz, the grapes for this Merlot come from the New South Wales region in Australia, and more specifically the Riverina region within New South Wales.  [...]

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Sometimes in the wine business the convoluted world of holding companies, parent companies, sister companies, etc. can get confusing.  To a degree, that’s the case with Redwood Creek, which is part of Frei Brothers, which is owned by E&J Gallo.  In many cases the large parent companies in the wine business just act as holding [...]

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Last year I tried the Red Diamond Cabernet Sauvignon and ended up being one of my favorites, so I was looking forward to trying the Merlot.  This one didn’t come through as strong as the Cabernet though. Like some other Merlots that I’ve been tasting, this has a more than just Merlot in it.  It [...]

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At this point in time, there is only one variety of wine under the Red Rock Winery label and that variety is Merlot.  I don’t know if they have any plans for other varieties, but for now it’s Merlot.  And it’s a good Merlot. Actually, while it only says Merlot on the label there are [...]

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