Let me begin by saying, “I was wrong about Carménère.” This is not the first time I’ve had to admit being wrong and it won’t be the last. But fortunately, I’m willing to own up to it when I’m wrong and change my thinking… which, in my humble opinion, is more important than being right […]
Red Wines
Review: Virgen, Organic Red Blend
It’s interesting to think about the idea of organic products when you look at it through the history of time. 100 years ago, most things that you could buy in a supermarket would be considered organic, by current standards, but they weren’t marketed that way because it wasn’t something people thought about at the time. […]
Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re like me and seek out good, bargain-priced wines. Finding those hidden gems is sometimes about knowing a specific brand to seek out, sometimes it’s about knowing a certain region that delivers good QPR (quality-to-price ratio) and sometimes it’s knowing the right grapes to seek out. In […]
Review: Domaine Bousquet Gran Organic Cabernet Sauvignon
A good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon can be pricey. You can easily spend $35, $50, $80 or more for a single bottle. But you don’t need to spend that much to have a great bottle of wine. This Gran Organic Cabernet Sauvignon from Domain Bousquet has a suggested retail price of $18 and I would […]
Alto de la Ballena, Tannat Viognier
A wine blend you may have come across at some point in your life is Syrah-Viognier. It may not seem intuitive to add a white wine with intense, perfume-like aromas (i.e., Viognier) to a full-bodied red wine with concentrated dark fruit, spice and tannic characteristics (i.e., Syrah), but it works… really well. The Viognier, which […]
Review: Pam’s UN-Oaked Cabernet
When I came across the wine I’m reviewing today, I was super curious and interested to taste it. This wine comes from Ron Rubin Winery in Sonoma, California. I’ve reviewed some of their wines before and I’ve always been impressed with them, including Pam’s UN-Oaked Chardonnay. The 2021 vintage of Pam’s UN-Oaked Cabernet is the […]
Giménez Méndez Alta Reserva Tannat
How much do you know about Uruguay? I have to admit, until recently I didn’t know much about Uruguay, other than the fact that it’s a small country on the Atlantic coast of South America, south of Brazil. One of the side effects of being a wine geek, who loves to try wine from different […]
Review: Domaine Bousquet Reserve Organic Cabernet Sauvignon
I’ve written about Domaine Bousquet wines many times over the years. They are a producer that consistently makes good wine at reasonable prices and does so while being good stewards for the environment. Sustainability is often one of the themes I highlight when I write about Domaine Bousquet, but one of the things I haven’t […]
Bonterra Pinot Noir – Regenerative Organic Certified Wine
It’s become almost ubiquitous for wine producers to talk about sustainability. I appreciate the fact that producers recognize the importance of it, but I often find myself skeptical. Anyone can claim to practice sustainability. There is no legally-binding definition for sustainability and it’s totally plausible that some producers could use the term as a part […]
Happy Beaujolais Nouveau Day 2022!
Today is the third Thursday of November and that means it’s Beaujolais Nouveau Day — the day the current vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau is released to the public. For anyone who doesn’t know, Beaujolais Nouveau is a wine from the Beaujolais wine region of France, made from Gamay grapes. “Nouveau” translates to mean “new,” which […]