In my last review, I shared the Franciscan Estate Napa Valley Chardonnay. Tonight, I move on to their Cabernet Sauvignon. The suggested retail price of this wine is slightly above our typical target, at $28. But it’s a darn good wine and shopping around you may find it as low as $21 at some places, […]
I don’t like chardonnay. OK, that’s not entirely true. I don’t like bad chardonnay, and unfortunately there’s way too much of that out there. When I find one that’s made well I love it. By “made well” I mean that the palate isn’t buried in oak, it still has crisp acidity and it has lively […]
Rosé is often an under-appreciated and overlooked wine category. But if you’ve been reading Cheap Wine Ratings for long you’ve probably picked up on the fact that we love a good rosé—particularly a good, dry rosé. And today wine writers around the world are celebrating dry rosé for the return of Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW). […]
If you like wines that deliver exceptional value, as I do, then Portuguese wines are a great place to look. And in the summer months, Vinho Verde is one of my favorite white wines. It tastes great, it’s refreshing and often it’s quite a bargain. OK, and truth be told it doesn’t have to be […]
I regularly encounter folks who say they don’t like riesling. As I’ve said before, I think riesling is misunderstood by too many people. Yes, there’s some crappy riesling out there that might make you think you don’t like it. But chances are that if you think you don’t like riesling, you’re just drinking the wrong […]
The Wittmann family behind this wine has a history of wine production in southern Rheinhessen, Germany that goes back to before the United States has been a country! Way before! The first record of winemaking in their family dates back to 1663! It’s not uncommon to find families with a long history of winemaking in […]
Last night I reviewed the 337 cabernet sauvignon and tonight I thought I’d give props to his sister, 446 chardonnay. It’s another part of the Noble Vines lineup. This wine is named after a combination of the vine clone and the block where it’s grown. The vine, clone 4, is also called the “Martini clone” […]
I was talking to some millennial wine lovers the other day and one commented to me that he just loves a good Californian cabernet sauvignon, but he doesn’t want to spend a lot on it. While there are plenty of overpriced Californian cabernets to be found, there are also some great bargains out there. This […]
One of the things I look for in a wine brand is consistency. I expect there will be some minor variations in a wine from one vintage to the next, but when a producer puts out a wine of similar quality vintage after vintage I know what to expect. And when that wine is consistently […]
My virtual tour of Greek wines continues with a “visit” to the southern slopes of Mt. Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, via a taste of Tsantali Rapsani. This wine is made from a blend of indigenous Greek grape varieties: Xinomavro, Krassato and Stavroto. Wine Geek Info: The wine was aged in small French oak barrels […]
