Moscato, or muscat, seems to be all the rage these days. I’m seeing more and more of it show up in wine shops and wine lists. And I’ve heard from some producers that demand is so high they can’t produce enough of it. There may be a direct correlation in the reduced consumption of white […]
This wine comes in a little bit over our typical $20 limit, but I was impressed with it so I thought I’d share for those who occasionally spring a little more for their wine. This Robert Mondavi pinot noir comes from the Carneros region in California. This is a region that is just north of […]
When I was first learning about wine and first discovered Chilean wines, I thought Chile was something new on the scene. I never would have guessed that some wineries there had been operating since the 1800’s. I suppose the “new on the scene” perception was due to a combination of my lack of knowledge about […]
Spring is just around the corner and that has me thinking of sauvignon blanc. I’ve said many times before that California generally isn’t at the top of my list of regions for sauvignon blanc. But that perspective is changing. I’ve had a few tasty Californian sauvignon blancs in the past year. And this is another […]
Although this is another Chilean wine, it has roots in Piedmont Italy. The founder, Pedro Pavone Voglino, immigrated to the Maipo Valley region of Chile from Piedmont in 1917. For many years he grew grapes to sell to other wineries until he established Viña Santa Ema with his son. They started marketing bottles of Santa Ema wine […]
I would guess that the Bronco Wine Company produces more of the bargain-priced wine brands you see on the shelves than any other producer. I could be wrong, but they have a LOT of different brands. And Grove Ridge is one of them. The story behind a wine like this isn’t going to involve a […]
Yes, it’s another merlot review. This one comes from the Rapel Valley region in Chile and it’s made with organically grown grapes. Emiliana is focused on biodynamic and organic agriculture in their vineyards, embracing a philosophy that these practices result in healthier vines—which in turn, they say, produces better wines. Farming organically doesn’t just mean […]
We’re still going through the merlot tastings (although we’re almost to the end of this series). And we’re also coming out of St. Patrick’s Day weekend, so I thought I’d share a merlot that offers a little green. This is another Chilean merlot, from the Colchagua Valley region. So the green here isn’t really an […]
It is time to, once again, talk about Chile. Today’s merlot comes from Terranoble, a Chilean producer with vineyards covering 320 hectares in the Maule, Colchagua and Casablanca valleys. They’ve been around since 1993 and, like many producers, have a number of different tiers to their wines. This one is from the “varietal” tier, which […]
The many personalities of merlot make this varietal interesting, but it also means that some of those personalities are more pleasant than others. This Santa Alicia wine comes from the Maipo Valley region in Chile and it’s a merlot with an in-your-face personality. This merlot offers a spicy nose, with heavy black pepper, cherry, olive […]
