I recoiled and pushed away the crystal stemware wondering if some savory syrup was masquerading as wine, and that maybe its destiny was to spread like jam on slices of peanut butter slathered Wonder Bread. This sensory collision with high alcohol and unrestrained ripeness was triggered a few years back cracking open a 2005 Mollydooker The Boxer screw top, a wine Robert Parker awarded 95 points to […]
Clos Roche Blanche: Gamay as Touraine Treat
When a wine and its fruit are born from a low yield program, organically farmed, raised in vineyards planted at the end of the 19th century, hang from old vines, retail around $15, hail from a Loire Valley appellation, and find their way to the US as a Louis/Dressner Selection, it gets my attention. This fusion of vinous genetics brought me face to face with the […]
WineZag Alert: How to Stretch the $US in France's Wine Market
I want to share a stunning winner from the Loire Valley, made by Marc Ollivier, fully hand harvested, from Muscadet’s heralded appellation between the Sevre and Maine rivers, that sits on its lees until bottling, which you can drink now or lay away for more than 25 years, brought to us by Louis/Dressner . Oh and by the way, it costs $13. An […]
Courting Mencia: How Have I Lived Without You?
Bear with me, I am falling in love again. I have been peripatetically traversing the Ribeira Sacra and Bierzo regions by tasting every Mencia wine I manage to unearth and then blabbering away about the new discoveries here at WineZag. A byproduct of utter submission to my new Mencia tick, I recently met up with Joe Austekewicz, wine director at Yankee Spirits, who just returned from a foray through these very regions alongside Eric Solomon . […]
Mendoza Monday: Focus on Wines of the Uco Valley
John and family recently returned to the US following a year-long Life-Zag in and around Mendoza (with a separate story Side-Zag to Barcelona). Carrying back a souvenir passion for great Argentine wines and epic grilling sessions, I ended up in a subterranean space in his barely decorated new home in Needham, MA this past Monday to taste through a wide range of wines […]
One-Word Buying Strategy and a Must-Have Wine
I look forward to hearing from Matt Kramer in his regular Wine Spectator column. He delivers “regular guy” sensibility with intellectual strength wrapped in an entertaining style. His cut-to-the-chase humility combines with child-like amusement when discovering sources of fairly priced, quality wine that are messengers for their place of origin. I mean wines that unleash vineyard identity, maybe […]
Cab Franc and Falanghina With Roots
I can only tolerate an hour, or so, of tasting through large portfolios at crowded trade events. With an air of desperation, I scurry to discover a new wine or two representing a commensurate quality and value reward for immersing in this tasting format’s inherent nest of inconvenience. My schedule had me in Boston simultaneous with the Loire Valley Wine Bureau tasting at the Taj […]
Declaring Mencia King
My love affair with the Mencia grape is officially out of control. Tasting through more of these wines at Toro (which is by the way Ken Oringer’s restaurant serving very serious food in a relaxed but energy charged atmosphere…sitting on my top ten all-time list for “simply delicious” and a winning choice for Beantown foodie indulgence) convinced me that my first […]
On Boeuf Bourguignon, Docs, Pinot Noir, and Nirvana
For folks that allocate non trivial sums of their waking hours tasting fine wine and devouring information in appreciative support of things vinous, the ultimate reward occurs when the collage of food, wine, and human connection intersect with seamless harmony in one pinnacle vignette. My experience with this form of cerebral tickling generally takes hold […]
Pepper Bridge 2005 Cabernet: A Wine of Exotic Immediate Pleasure
Had the chance to try this Pepper Bridge 2005 Cab last night on a beautiful Seattle evening. Seriously elegant yet fully charged wine with coffee, black fruit, fruit cake and sweet floral aromas, a touch of eucalyptus, and soft round tannins that make it really easy to enjoy now. But, years of good cellaring potential […]
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