Red blends seem to be all the rage over the past few years for wine lovers on a budget who want red wine with big flavors. By doing a blend, winemakers have more opportunities to shape the wine into something they think will resonate with consumers. Add a little bit of this and a little […]
Red Blend
Bila-Haut, L’esquerda by Michel Chapoutier
I still remember the first wine I got truly excited about after launching this website over 10 years ago. It was a 2003 Yasa Garnacha and it was one of those finds that had me wanting more. But the following vintages didn’t impress me as much. Finding wine brands that are consistently good is one […]
Jonathan Maltus, Garagiste
“Garagistes” is a name given to a group of Bordeaux winemakers who produce wines in small batches, often in garages — hence the name. These winemakers are often producing wines designed to be consumed soon after production and not aged, being a bit less tannic and more fruit forward than what is typical of Bordeaux […]
Domaine Bousquet, Gaia, Red Blend
It’s always nice to come across a wine producer with a feel good story. Such is the case for this wine from Domaine Bousquet in Argentina. The history of Domaine Bousquet began in 1990, when a third-generation winemaker from Carcassonne, France visited the Tupungato district in the Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina. He found there what he […]
O’Vineyards, Trah Lah Lah
I often review wines sent to me as media samples and always include a disclosure of that fact in those reviews. In this case I need to provide several disclosures, so let’s get that out of the way up front: This wine is produced by the family of a friend of mine, Ryan O’Connell The […]
Trivento, Argentinian Blend, Cabernet-Malbec
I’ve previously had cabernet sauvignon from Argentina and I’ve certainly had plenty of malbec from Argentina. But this is the first time I’ve had a 50/50 blend of cabernet sauvignon and malbec from Argentina, or from any other region for that matter. The idea of it had me curious what it would be like. You’ve […]
Extremely Rare Black Blend
The PR materials I received with this wine describe it as “elegant and refined, with sophisticated nuance and delicate balance.” I would use none of those descriptors for this wine. From my perspective this is an in-your-face, aggressive wine that’s bold, wild and jammy. With one taste of this wine I can tell it is […]
Frontera, After Midnight Red Wine
Chile is a great region for bargain-priced wines and hence I find myself reviewing a lot of wines from Chile. Some of them are great and some of them are meh! But what do you expect when you’re tasting the cheap stuff. And at $5.99 per bottle, this one is about as cheap as it […]
Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot – Super Cheap
I’m a fan of the magnum, that’s a 1.5 liter bottle of wine. Although the magnum also frustrates me because it seems like the wines sold in bottles of this size fall primarily into two camps: 1) super cheap & not so great, and 2) premium. What I have a hard time finding in the […]
Château La France, Cuvée Gallus — Earthy & Rich
Last year I started highlighting some good, yet affordable wines from Bordeaux. Here’s another wine in that category. This one comes from Château La France, a pretty large estate in the Bordeaux region at 90 hectares (222 acres) with 75 of those planted. The wine is classified as Bordeaux Supérieur and is made of 60% merlot, 35% […]