I had the chance to drink two utterly dissimilar styles of wine during Thanksgiving dinner; Cazin’s 2007 Cour-Cheverny Vendanges Manuelles ($15***) and Williams Selyem’s 2003 Forchini Vineyard Zinfandel ($40***). Both came from my wine cellar to serve as testimony to a nagging personal dilemma rooted in an evolving and schizophrenic palate. As full disclosure, my split wine personality […]
2009 Clos de la Roilette Cuvee Tardive: Holiday Gift From Top Vintage
My brain flushed with a recognizably joyous sensation opening a newly arrived case of 2009 Clos de la Roilette Cuvee Tardive. I made a mental note about how the flow of wines from a reportedly great new vintage like 2009 in Beaujolais, where nature’s growing season appears to have supported more consistently reliable fruit and […]
Lopez de Heredia Wines Showcase Unique Style and Age Worthy Rioja Tradition
I lean towards naturally made wines subjected to minimal human intervention that can transport me to the vineyards, hills, and cellars of their birthplace. So it was no surprise that tasting through seven recent releases from the venerable Rioja producer, Lopez de Heredia, made for a compelling, head-turning, and fully recommended indulgence. These are profound wines which […]
Top Three Wines of October: Beaujolais, Barbaresco, and Champagne
In this second “wines of the month” summary report, here are October’s top WineZag recommendations. This autumn unveiled itself with vinous treats from Beaujolais, Champagne, and Barbaresco. 2006 Sottimano Barbaresco Pajore $50: This was my favorite wine in a blind flight of Barolos and Barbarescos spanning two vintages. I was taken by this wine’s smoky […]
2005 Clos Rougeard Les Poyeux and Menton Boston
In both cases, drinking 2005 Clos Rougeard (click for review) and luxuriating over dinner at Barbara Lynch’s Menton (click for review) in Boston’s Fort Point extension last week were opportunities for critical return visits. I first tasted the entry level 2005 Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny a couple of months back and made my one and only previous visit to […]
Sottimano Pajore Barbaresco Pairs With Batali Rib-Eye Recipe
It took a recent Barolo and Barbaresco blind tasting and a new season for locally grown, organic, long-neck garlic to finally move me to share my not-so-secret, Mario Batali borrowed, dry rub Rib-Eye recipe. I say it is mine, even though it is not, because I have been consistently scintillating guests over the years deploying […]
2009 Burgaud Chateau De Thulon Beaujolais Villages: Top Vintage, Producer, and Value
It has been a charmed decade for Beaujolais producers and 2009 is highly anticipated as the best yet. First there was 2003, possibly the best Beaujolais vintage in at least 40 years, producing deliciously round, richly fruited wines and then quickly followed two years later by the well hyped and overall excellent 2005 vintage where the Cru […]
Top Three Wines Of September
Tom Matthews, Wine Spectator Executive Editor, left an intriguing and somewhat tongue-in-cheek comment today on a WineZag post that I published earlier this week which featured some thinking stimulated both by Terry Theise’s new book and my palate’s evolution over the last twenty five years. Here is Tom’s comment that he left today: “The ‘quiet […]
Sean Thackrey Pleiades XI-XVIII: Vertical Tasting Without Boundaries
This weekend’s vertical tasting of Sean Thackrey’s Pleiades XI-XVIII offered a thrilling departure from the familiar variables more traditional vertical tasting sessions showcase; particularly the satisfying intellectual discovery stemming from sensory embodiment of vintage variation against a backdrop of consistent terroir. Then again, Marin County based Thackrey is the antithetic picture of California wine producers, coming at it with […]
An Afternoon With Alan Peirson and Lesley Warner-Peirson: Peirson Meyer and L’Angevin Wines
L’Angevin and Peirson Meyer wines are so consistently special, they can resolve the bias of even the most severe doubter that has bumped up against one too many bottles of mediocre, simple, and frankly bad California Chardonnay. If I had my own winery in Napa Valley, I would solicit Alan Peirson to manage my vineyards […]
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