One of the exciting parts of being a wine writer is the seemingly endless variety of places, styles and types of wine you can find. Despite the fact that California, France, Australia, Italy, Chile and Spain seem to dominate the wine shelves in the US, there is wine produced in every corner of the globe. […]
Ricardo Santos is the former owner of the Norton Winery and thirty-some years ago he was the first wine producer in Argentina to export Malbec. Unless you’re new to wine or have been living under a rock you know that now Argentine wine is almost synonymous with Malbec. Given Santos’ history with Malbec, I was […]
I was actually a little surprised when I saw that Redwood Creek had a Malbec. I typically think of them as producers of Californian wine. After all, the brand name “Redwood” makes you think of northern California. But Redwood Creek is ultimately part of E&J Gallo, who distribute wines from all over the world. You’ll […]
These days, a lot of wine consumers are turning to South America for some outstanding wine values—and in particular, they’re turning to Chile and Argentina. When it comes to Argentine reds, Malbec is king. But there’s another variety that’s widely grown in Argentina that you may want to try. It’s called Bonarda. And, in fact, […]
In winery years, Doña Paula is still relatively young, with it’s roots going back to just 1997. It was actually founded by Grupo Claro from Chile, owners of Viña Santa Rita, as they diversified operations into Argentina. You could say it was a good investment, as demand for Doña Paula wines has driven the winery […]
Being as into wine as I am, I get into a lot of conversations about wine and I’ve noticed that there are a few names that come up time and time again. One of those names is Layer Cake, and that’s particularly related to their Shiraz. I meet people everywhere who are nuts about Layer […]
It seems that in all the wine shops I visit, Don Miguel Gascón is the Malbec that I see everywhere. Perhaps that’s because it’s distributed by wine powerhouse, EJ Gallo. It’s named after the original founder of the winery, who moved from Spain to Argentina in 1880 and began building the winery in 1884. The […]
Tercos is a relatively young wine brand, but the men behind it have a long family history in the wine business. The winery is owned and operated by Pedro and Patricio Santos, sons of Argentine winemaker Ricardo Santos. Ricardo founded the Norton winery in the 1970’s and in more recent years has been producing wine […]
As I continue this series on Malbec I’m struck by the fact that it seems like it’s just been within the past ten years that most of us in the US started to notice Argentine wines, and the rise of Malbec seems to be at the crux of that. But wine has being produced in […]
While there are several characteristics to wine that I enjoy discussing and writing about in reviews, my quest ultimately boils down to two critical measures: 1) Is it good? And 2) Is it affordable? The sweet spot is when a wine does well in both measures. But when it comes to wines I’ll recommend, it’s […]
