Wine Reviews
All Things Corked & Forked
Over two thousand wine reviews! While most of our reviews focus on great wines under $20, we also offer reviews of luxury and collectible wines. As we are located in Philadelphia, most wines reviewed here are available via wine & spirits shops in Pennsylvania. Our main reviewer is Keith Wallace, the executive director and founder of the Wine School of Philadelphia. Want to locate a specific wine? Use our PLCB Wine Finder.
Carmen Rodríguez Méndez 2012 “Carodorum” Seleccion Especial Toro Reserva
Toro is often overshadowed by the famous and much larger Ribera del Duero wine region. However, Toro is a special place in its own right, with some of the oldest vineyards in all of Spain. This particular bottle comes from a tiny estate owned by two brothers with 16ha...
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Bersano 2012 “Badarina” Barolo
Bersano has the largest acreage of any private winery in the Italian Piedmont. Founded in the 19th Century, Bersano originally produced wine solely in the Asti province. Over the years, they now have 230HA of vineyards, including properties in both Barolo...
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Holiday Wine Guide 2018
I've included my holiday wine selections below. If you're thinking of a wine-soaked holiday season, I'd also like to recommend a few of our wine classes, as well. I just released our Top Wines of 2018 class. I intentionally left it off the front page until now, so our...
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Rotie Cellars 2013 “Northern Blend” Red, Walla Walla
Eventually, Walla Walla is going to crush Napa Valley. It's not just climate change, it's the culture of the place. Rotie Cellars is a case in point. I've never seen winemaker/owner Sean Boyd in a perfectly clean pair of pants or sporting a manicure. This dude works....
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40 Essential Wine Terms
Have you ever gone wine tasting and had no clue about anything anyone was saying? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with these 40 common wine terms and tasting descriptions. For a full breakdown of wine terminology, we suggest our Wine Dictionary. Wine Scent...
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Holiday Gift Guide 2018, Part One
Apparently, many of you love our gift guide but think it's been getting too long. So this year the guide has been split into two. This is the first edition, with the second --the holiday wine guide-- coming out in early December. Have a great Thanksgiving! Keith...
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You can search our database of wine reviews for free. From Bordeaux to Virginia: there are over twenty thousand wine reviews dating back over twenty years. If you want access to the newest reviews, please register for our newsletter, the Wine Report. It’s a great free resource to find the top-rated wines currently available.
Our focus is on wines available in Pennsylvania. We feature wines in the Chairman’s Selection program and other discounted wines available in the PLCB Wine & Spirits Stores. You can also check out our reviews of Philly’s Top Wine Shops.
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Wine reviews and news from Keith Wallace and the Wine School of Philadelphia.
Wine Reviews and Features from the Wine School
Getting a Job in the Wine Business
The wine industry is a massive industry with several different career options to suit different types of people. Whether it is physically dealing with the wine or simply selling the wine – there is something out there for anyone. Here we have a list of the most common...
Italian Wine Primer
Italy has a rich, deep history with wine – dating back thousands of years. Being the biggest producers of wine in the world, Italian wines are kept at a consistently immaculate standard. It is one of the many reasons that wine from the Italian regions is so widely...
Contino 2014 Rioja Reserva
Contino is the first and remains one of the greatest single-vineyard Rioja producers in the marketplace. Based on the ideals of 19th Century French château's, Contino has been CVNE's premier label since 1973. Back then, it was rare to grow and produce wines at the...
Soléna Estate 2015 “Grande Cuvee” Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Laurent Montalieu continues to make great wines. Despite selling Soléna Estate to Jackson Family Wine Estates in 2013, Laurent has remained on board as winemaker (For a bit of history on this winery, you can check out our previous review of the 2013 Reserve Pinot) ...
L’Ecole No 41 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Walla Walla Valley
Walla Walla is one of the great unheralded wine regions in America. I've always been of the opinion that's largely due to the name. Walla Walla, Washington doesn't have the elegant flow of Napa, California. L'Ecole was always a favorite client, back when I was the...
Yves Cheron 2015 “Les Dentelles” Cotes du Rhone
Domaine Yves Cheron is located in Gigondas, where most of their Grenache vineyards are located. While this may not be a region you are familiar with, Gigondas is a Southern Rhone cru that is on-par (quality-wise) with its famous neighbor, Chateauneuf du Pape. The...
Michele Chiarlo 2015 “Le Orme” Barbera d’Asti
There isn't enough Barbera in the world. There used to be a bit too much, but that was back in the bad old days of 1985. Thirty years on, the wine has lost its fans to other parts of Italy. For Piedmont fans, they usually opt for the Nebbiolos of Barolo and...
Castello di Gabbiano 2013 Chianti Classico Riserva
The Gabbiano Castle has been a focal point in Tuscany since the 12th century. Being between the rival towns of Sienna and Florence, it was more often about war, not wine. Here's a section from a 19th-century account of medieval warcraft: Fulminato da dieci cannoni,...
Hope after Tragedy: The Origin of the Wine School
In this week's episode of Philly Who? I sat down for a deeply personal interview with Kevin Chemidlin, the podcast's host. This is unlike any other interview I've done in the past 20 years of running the wine school. It goes deep into my past, including the tragedies...
October 2018 Newsletter
Suggested Classes A few upcoming classes at the school that you should consider attending. First Growths of the East Coast Thursday, November 15th at 7:30 pm There are hundreds of wineries scattered from Virginia to Maine. Over the last few years, a quiet revolution...
Carden 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
This wine exists. It's amazing. It drinks well above it's current price in the PA Wine & Spirits stores. It's winemaker exists: Tony Rynders, the former winemaker at Domaine Serene. I just don't think the winery exists. At one point, there was a Bomb Winery,...
North by Northwest 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
The first time I heard of an Oregon winery making a wine with Washington State fruit, it sounded a little odd. Why would an Oregon winery buy grapes from so far away when they are smack in the middle of some of the best Pinot Noir vineyards in the world? It seems a...
Andre Delorme Blanc de Blancs Brut Reserve, Burgundy
Shopping for wine in Pennsylvania can be tough. It's not just the sluggish bureaucracy. It's not just the on-average-higher prices. It not just the communist-era florescent lighting. It's the fact that the PA Wine & Spirits stores don't hire much wine talent. One...
Eleven Wine Blogs to Follow
The wine industry just wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for some of the fantastic wine blogs we had access to today. Whether it is to inform us about serious wine matters or to relate better to new-wine-lovers, there is something out there for everyone. We’ve put...
Isabella 2016 Bobal, Ribera del Jucar
This is a small wine region that most wine maps forget to include (I'm talking to you Wine Folly). That's not unexpected, actually, as there are hundreds of tiny and obscure wine regions that don't make the cut. Ribera del Jucar is next to the more famous (and that's...
Matetic 2014 Corralillo Syrah, San Antonio Valley, Chile
I've never really cared much about an artist's life. If their work inspires me, I don't need to be weighted down with their ideas on religion or politics. I feel the same way about fellow artisans. If another chef or winemaker is making delicious things, I really...
Shannon Ridge “Vigilance” 2017 Sauvignon Blanc, Red Hills
Shannon Ridge is becoming a favorite in Pennsylvania. It's wines have showed up in so many Chairman Selection offerings, that it's becoming a annual tradition to review a bottle or two of their wines. This bottling is quite a pleasant surprise, exceeding their very...
September Newsletter 2018
50% OFF BOGO SALE For the rest of September, get a 50% off coupon for any class, up to $250 in value. Purchase any upcoming class or course, and the 50% off coupon code will be emailed to you immediately. This is the best sale we've ever put on in a long time, so I'd...
Spanish Wine Primer
It is no secret that Spain has a lush terroir; bringing us the world’s most interesting cultivars and high-quality wine. Spain is now known for being one of the world’s biggest wine exporters, the world’s largest organic wine producers and the country with the most...
Mark Herold 2014 “Collide” Red, California
Mark's new tasting room just opened in Napa --just down from the Oxbow Public Market-- a scant three months before I reviewed his wines. I loved the room --super fun and modern-- but another journalist gently pointed out that it was geared towards Millennial wine...
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