Several years ago, when I first started doing wine reviews, I was a big fan of Chilean cabernet sauvignon. But then after a number of disappointing experiences I gravitated away from it. This, however, is a wine that once again makes me a fan. This is one of the many brands produced by Concha y […]
Red Wines
Casillero del Diablo, Cabernet Sauvignon
Now here’s a wine brand with a fun name and a fun story behind the name — the quick version is a winemaker kept the good wine in a cellar and to keep thieves away started a rumor that the devil lived in his cellar. Casillero del Diablo is now a devilishly popular wine brand produced by Chilean […]
Bila-Haut, Cotes Du Roussillon Villages – Revisited
Hello again, everyone. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve posted anything and those couple weeks were filled with a busy schedule at the day job along with a series of technology challenges. First files on this website spontaneously went corrupt and I had to restore the site and then my hard drive on my […]
Mud House, Marlborough Pinot Noir
A few weeks ago I wrote about a pinot noir from Mud House made with grapes from the Central Otago region in New Zealand. It was delicious and reminded me about how good New Zealand pinot noir can me. And now I have another pinot noir from Mud House, this one from grapes grown in […]
OZV Old Vine Zinfandel – Liquid Chocolates
Zinfandel is often the epitome of a “new world” wine. It’s famous for being bold, spicy and loaded with big fruit flavors. Some love it for those reasons and some avoid it for those reasons. If you’re a zinfandel lover who likes big, fruity wines this is a nice one for you. The OZV brand […]
Mud House, Central Otago Pinot Noir – Delicious!
I admit it. I’ve often typecast New Zealand as offering only sauvignon blanc when it comes to wine. But there’s no basis for that, other than the fact that they produce some excellent sauvignon blanc and that just happens to be what I think of when I think about New Zealand. Plenty of other good […]
Sumner Vineyards Pinot Noir – Beautiful
Last week I wrote a review of California Cowboy Red, a pinot noir from Sumner Vineyards. It was so good I needed to try another pinot noir from Sumner Vineyards this week. This one doesn’t have a fun cowboy name, it’s simply called Sumner Vineyards Pinot Noir. Like the Cowboy Red, this one comes from […]
California Cowboy Red Pinot Noir – Wow!
“Wow. Holy cow, that’s good.” That was my first impression of this wine. Most times when I’m getting ready to taste and take notes on wines it’s all business. I get things set up, get my computer ready for my notes take a sniff of the first wine for that day and go to work. […]
Barefoot Malbec
In my last post I checked out a Barefoot Prosecco that was pretty good and challenged the prejudice some folks have against the Barefoot brand. And so I thought I’d check out another Barefoot wine — their malbec. I often struggle to find the right balance between writing about obscure and interesting, although possibly difficult […]
Santa Carolina, Reserva de Familia, Carmenère – Spicy and Good
I love the story of carmenère, the lost grape of Bordeaux rediscovered in Chile after it was thought to have disappeared from our planet. When I first heard about it, I was entranced by the magical story and wanted to celebrate this grape and make it one of my staple wines. But not long after […]