A couple weeks ago, I did a lengthy writeup about my recent visit to Paso Robles. But I didn’t highlight any of the specific wines I tasted there. Tonight I want to touch on a few wines I tasted on that visit, from Villacana Winery. Villacana is a small winery run by a husband and […]
Wow. The name is a mouthful on this one. I get just past the “Marchesi de” and I start to sound like a clumsy mid-westerner—which, I suppose in a way I am. But while some of the names on Italian wines can pose challenges to me, I still have a great appreciation for them. At […]
When I first launched this site, nearly four years ago, Spanish wines were what I was excited about, especially garnacha. But since the first few months of the site, I find myself tasting less and less Spanish wines. I have nothing against them, in fact I still have some trusted favorites in the Spanish section. […]
We go through a lot of wine in our household. Now before you get the wrong idea, let me add that it’s usually no more than a glass (roughly 6 – 8 ounces) a day. But between my wife and me, we can easily consume about 4 – 5 bottles a week. And as you […]
If you aren’t familiar with carménère, that’s ok. You’re probably not alone. For a varietal that has spent much of the latter part of the 20th century in obscurity, and often confused for Merlot, it’s making a nice comeback in some rather familiar places. To get you caught up on who is doing some nice […]
When you think of wine from Australia you probably think of Shiraz first, as well you should. Shiraz is Australia’s most planted variety, and it ranks second to France in shiraz/syrah in vines under cultivation. But I’d be willing to bet that when Australian wine gets mentioned, the last varietal that you think of is […]
I really want to like this wine. The overall look of the packaging is clean and simple but the blazoned red “181” on the black label is striking. I also like the choice of tapered meritage-glass for the bottle. It looks premium and very up-market. As I review the wine, I find myself taking a […]
It’s been close to 3 years since we’ve reviewed Twisted’s 2005 Old Vine Zinfandel. It represented a great value back then at it’s $6.99 price tag, but it didn’t get our nod for top zinfandel under $20. Recently, on one of my routine trips to one of my favorite wine shops, I ran across the […]
We’re back to another box today, or an Octavin to be more precise. This is a cabernet sauvignon from the Central Coast of California. When a wine is labeled as coming from the Central Coast, that usually means that the fruit came from a couple different sources because Central Coast is a broad region (or […]
As a guy who is into value wines, I’ve found that there are a few regions you can count on for consistent values. Chile and Spain are two regions that are on that list, but one that I don’t see enough of is Portugal. There are some incredible bargains to be found in Portuguese wines, […]
