Goose Ridge 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley
The big four –Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, International Wine Cellar, and the Wine Advocate– all liked this wine. None of them loved it, but they all gave the wine a solid …
Durigutti 2010 Cabernet Franc Reserva, Mendoza
I am thrilled to see a bottle of Cabernet Franc coming out of Argentina. This grape varietal is grown in limited quantities in South America, and it’s mostly used in blends. …
Piccini 2008 Sasso Al Poggio, Tuscany
This style of Tuscan wine is turning into the most popular with American wine drinkers looking for good value in Italian wines. This is something of an irony: It wasn’t too …
Chateau Saint Jean 2010 Chardonnay, Belle Terre Vineyard
This is an American classic Chardonnay. Imagine a big ole’ honey bear of wine, dressed up in a tuxedo but passed out on a feather bed. Golden and glossy in the glass, …
Novy 2010 Syrah, Napa Valley
The nose in this Napa Valley Syrah offers copious aromas of black fruits –black cherry, currant, and blackberry– and a thread of smoky licorice. On the palate, it is lush and …
Petra 2008 “Ebo” Val di Cornia Suvereto Rosso
The Tuscan coast has become a hotbed of luxury wines in the past decade. This is the motherland of the so-called Super Tuscans that have captured the American imagination. Petra is …
Contadi Castaldi 2007 “Brut Satèn” Franciacorta
Sparkling wine is one of the great pleasures in life. Sadly, there are only a few wine regions that really truly do a spectacular bubbly. In Italy, Franciacorta is such a …
Bodegas Briego 2009 Crianza, Ribera del Duero
Bodegas Briego is an obscure winery from one of the greatest wine regions in the world, the Ribera del Duero. The winery was founded in the nineties by three brothers from the …
Starmont 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Here we have a wine from the second label of Napa Valley’s Merryvale Vineyard. Wine Spectator frequently calls out that their cabernets are deluxe in a way only Napa Cabs …
Bodega Benegas 2009 Don Tiburcio, Mendoza
The Benegas is the founding family of the wine trade in Argentina. Tiburcio Benegas founded the Trapiche winery in the late 19th century. By the 1970s, the family had sold off all their …
Michele Chiarlo 2007 “Tortoniano” Barolo
Barolo is a luxury that no one should do without. In the world of wine, it is like royalty. When a bottle of Barolo is priced under $40, it’s often worth …
Bodega Triton 2009 “Tridente” Tempranillo
What is this curious label? The wine region listed is “Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon,” a reference to a huge — and unremarkable — wine region in central …
Cellars Baronia “Flor D’Englora” 2011 Garnatxa
It was not too long ago that $10 bottles of wine were ground zero for the frugal and the downwardly mobile. That is no longer the case, at least for wine …
Altadonna 2010 Nero d’Avola
Altadonna is a project by the well-known father & son winemaking team of Stefano and Niccoló Chioccioli. Their portfolio is a line of pan-Italian wines sourced from northern to southern Italy. While such …
Los Boldos 2008 Amalia, Cachapoal Valley, Chile
Vina Los Boldos is an old winery at the foot of the Andes Mountains dating back to 1850. In 1990 the Massanez family from France purchased the property, turned it into …
Chateau Ollieux Romanis 2011 “Cuvee Capucine” Corbieres-Boutenac
I don’t know why this wine is named Capucine. Was it named after the French actress who lives about an hour away? Or Refuge Capucine, a dog shelter near the winery? …