Castello di Verduno Pelaverga 2004 “Basadone”Piemonte
In a region famous for its Nebbiolo-based wines, several varietals don’t get the attention they deserve, and this is one. Pelaverga is an ancient cultivar native to the Langhe, once planted …
Olivares Altos De La Hoya 2005 Monastrell
For the past three vintages, The Altos has been a unique & consistent great value. I am glad to see the trend continues. On the nose, a distinct minerality is coupled …
The UC Davis Diary
My former wine certification student Jenny S. is a first-year grad student in the Oenology & Viticulture Department of the University of California at Davis. Her emails about her first year …
Chateau Bouscaut 2005 Pessac Léognan
Extraordinary value for a Grand Cru Classé des Graves. Exceptionally full-bodied, this wine has the tannic structure and acidity to cellar for at least a decade. After being decanted for six …
Unexpected Pairings
This past summer, I fell madly in love with a perhaps unexpected food and wine pairing: Braised beef ravioli with tomato sauce alongside a bottle of Grand Cru Burgundy. This past …
Foreau NV Vouvray Brut
Too often, even the most ardent wine lovers forget about Vouvray. This is unfortunate because bottlings like this offered plenty to love: Good fruit, a real sense of structure, and unexpected …
Cantine Cardeto 2002 “Rupestro” IGT, Umbria
Even though Sangiovese is Italy’s most prolific and widely planted grape, it is popularly associated with Tuscany- Chianti, to be specific. In the hills near Orvieto, blended with Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo, and …
La Spinetta 2003 “Bionzo” Barbera d’Asti Superiore, Piemonte
This is one of Piedmont’s larger and more successful producers, whose wines are unfiltered, unfined, and in most cases created using biodynamic methods. The “Bionzo” Barbera debuted in 1998, and only …
Mollydooker 2007 “Two Left Feet”
Yes, it delivers all the oaky, succulent drama you’d expect. And yes, it’s downright gluggable. But there’s more to it than that in ’06: A sense of structure, an underlying freshness. …
Eddie Feraud 2005 Chateauneuf-du-Pape
What a polished, silky, modern wine, amazingly appealing now but with years of evolution ahead of it. The nose is rich with deeply stewed fruit, cigar tobacco, and an underlying note …
Wine & Cheese Pairing with Dibrunos
In 2010, we ran a series of wine & cheese events with Dibrunos. Emilio & I had a blast with this event. Emilio has the passion, and talking to him for …
The Dark Effect of the Wine Glut
Wine prices are meager right now, which is a great deal for us wine drinkers and sommeliers. Problems come in when the prices are too low. This is happening in the …
Buil & Giné “Giné Giné” Priorat
We’re still talking about that meal more than a year ago at the biker’s bar in Priorat: Three hours. Platter after platter of grilled, smoky, iron-rich meat. And wine like this, …
St-Urbans-Hof Ockfener Bockstein 2006Riesling Spatlese, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Follow these steps: 1. Grab a seat on the couch. 2. Open this bottle. 3. try not to glug it all down in one sitting. 4. Accept that #3 is darn …
Ravenswood 2001 Zinfandel, Teldeschi Dry Creek Valley
This is a purplish wine with hints of brown, and the deep colors perhaps serve to prepare you for the rich and almost heady experience that follows. The nose is somewhat …
Albarino Season!
With the warm weather upon us and the season of root veggies and all things braised blissfully put away for another year, this time has come to break out those bottles …