Today I am at the 2011 North American Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. And you may be asking yourself, “Why the hell is there a wine bloggers conference in Virginia?” Well, there is actually some very tasty wine made here… it doesn’t all come from California. I haven’t had a chance to taste much […]
I was just going through my tasting notes and I discovered that I still had notes for this wine from the sauvignon blanc series we did earlier this year, but somehow I neglected to publish this review at that time. And since it’s such a hot summer day, sauvignon blanc is the perfect wine to […]
I’m really excited by some of the wines coming out of Cline Cellars these days. They’re producing a number of Rhone varietals in California to create unique and very affordable wines. The latest one I’ve tasted from them is this Marsanne Roussanne. If you’re not a regular consumer of Rhone varietals, you may find yourself […]
Issue number 18 of Mutineer Magazine hits shelves today and my column in the magazine this month includes an overview of some great values to be found in Paso Robles—including this chardonnay from Stillwaters Vineyards. When I visited Stillwaters Vineyards back in March, I not only appreciated their wines, but got a little insight from […]
Tonight we’re checking out two Portuguese wines from Alente, which is a producer in the Alentejo region of Portugal. As I’ve commented in the past, I think some of the best values in wine are from Portugal. Unfortunately, I’ve found that distribution of Portuguese wines is a bit spotty in the US. In my region, […]
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 […]
The May/June issue of Mutineer Magazine will be on shelves any day now, including my Wine Steals column. In this issue I do a roundup of sauvignon blanc from California and Chile, including this one from Rodney Strong. Wine is an interesting thing when it comes to brands. There are so many of them, that […]
I have often dissed sauvignon blanc from California. I’ve called it bland, boring, lifeless. I’m guilty of badmouthing the whole category based on a few underwhelming experiences. But truthfully, California can produce exceptional sauvignon blanc. And this bottle from St. Supery proves me wrong for all the bad things I’ve said about Californian sauvignon blanc […]
Continuing the theme of our last review, today we’re checking out a couple more sauvignon blancs from the Casablanca Valley region of Chile. Both of these come from Quintay, which is a brand that was started by a group of Chilean wine producers all focused on cool climate wines. Wine from Quintay come from the […]
This is the third year in a row that we’ve had the opportunity to review the Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc and after reviewing this wine on multiple occasions, a few things have become evident. First of all, it’s clear that Veramonte consistently makes a really good sauvignon blanc. They’ve become my “go to” brand for SB. […]