I imagine that for many American wine consumers, particularly those who are relatively new to wine, the question, “What is a Claret?” is the thought that crosses your mind as you see this bottle on the shelves. “Is it a varietal? Is it a location? I know I’ve heard James Bond refer to a wine […]
One of the exciting things about wine is the almost endless variety you can find in types of wine. I think too often we gravitate toward something we know well, like a cabernet sauvignon or merlot and don’t explore enough. If you’re looking to branch out from the everyday wines and taste something unique, you […]
Today we’re taking a look at another Californian red blend. This one is a blend of 46% syrah, 31% malbec and 23% petit verdot from Ancient Peaks Winery in Paso Robles. This wine is a deep, dark purplish-red color with incredible density. It’s almost inky in appearance. The nose is just as powerful as the […]
Some of the most interesting wines I’ve been coming across lately are blends. Pure varietal wines are fine, but putting together a blend allows winemakers to leverage the characteristics of different grapes to create balance and complexity. The Concannon Conservancy Crimson & Clover is a new release from Concannon and is a petite sirah blend. Concannon […]
I’ve commented in previous reviews that not all malbec comes from Argentina. Today we have the opportunity to check out one from Chile, the Maule Valley region to be more specific. This malbec is from Apaltagua, not an unfamiliar brand to us. We’ve reviewed a few of their other wines and found them to be […]
Ricardo Santos is one of those brands that doesn’t do a lot of marketing, and doesn’t do a lot of storytelling. Which means it’s a brand that we just don’t know much about, other than what the wines tell us. Last year, we reviewed the 2008 Ricardo Santos malbec and we weren’t blown away by […]
With a history going back to 1890, Pascual Toso is one of the oldest wineries in Argentina. But similar to many of the older wineries in Argentina, they’ve seen a lot of growth and development in the past ten years or so. They have a couple different lines of wine, including an Estate line and […]
While the roots of Bodega Norton go back to 1895, it’s seen a lot of changes over the past 20-some years. It was acquired by Austrian businessman Gernot Langes-Swarovski in 1989 and has seen a lot of investment since then to improve the quality and quantity of wine they produce. In 2006 they were named […]
We’ve reviewed a number of Tercos wines in the past and found them to be reliably decent, although not necessarily stellar. But still, sturdy wines for the price. Most recently we reviewed their 2008 Tercos Malbec, and now it’s time to check out the 2009. This one will be a short and sweet review. The […]
If you haven’t seen it yet, my column in the latest issue of Mutineer Magazine is all about malbec. But it’s not all about 100% malbec, it also includes this malbec blend from Clos de los Siete. While there are a lot of pure varietal wines that I love, some of the most exciting wines […]
