With the 2006 in distribution and the 2007 releasing, stumbling across the 2005 Chateau Pesquie Terrasses at a local New Hampshire State Liquor store last week was a pleasant surprise. I grabbed the remaining 4 bottles on sale at $10.99, ignoring the half dozen 04s and asked for more 05. With the New Hampshire State Commission selling the 04, 05, […]
Quality Wine as a Primary Path to Winery Profitability
Stuffed car trunks and airplane holds of newly discovered wine being escorted home from wine regions by pleased holiday tasters is a common scene. Souveniers are pawns serving our emotional construct and consumer culture. But when it comes to tasting room visits, it just might make more sense to settle for a few photos, t-shirts, and caps […]
Canlis Renewed
There are spaces and experiences I encounter in life where it is possible to feel the bones of venerablity and simultaneously appreciate the harmonic enhancements of current day excellence. Last night, in the same spot the family started back in 1950 on a Seattle cliff, Canlis glistened with energetic respect for its history and a nod to its new iteration. […]
Wine Economics: A Consumer and Critic Weigh In
I have been in a digital desert for the last week, dealing with computer problems compounded by a stretch of travel without a laptop. Please excuse the brief WineZag siesta and take a quick few steps back with me to follow up on a previous WineZag post on runaway Bordeaux prices getting in the way of reasonable […]
A Twist on Wine and Health
His laugh can cure most anything and his joie de vivre will lift all spirits. The bottled energy of Lewis Cellars Cabernets and Chardonnays combines with a legacy marquis flashing Randy’s European race car roots driving Formula Threes and his tasting experiences with local wines before returning to the US behind the wheel of Indy Cars and ultimately a successful family wine business. Feeling lucky to have spent so many magical moments sharing […]
Rice and a Bottle of Magic
One of the top five things that intrigues me about wine is the natural transformation of grapes, a sugary, fleshy, pit-ty, skin-ny, and well….grape-y, snack-y treat into a serious and complex beverage whose flavors and aromas are described in terms that have no resemblance to the bunches of flesh and juice that hung off the vine. While dedicated followers of the grape grow, make, […]
Bordeaux Sucker Punch Ruins Wine Independence for All
Catching up on some overdue reading during the long Fourth of July holiday weekend, I was struck by a disconnect between two really interesting pieces of material. Wine enthusiasts face significant challenges that threaten a pronouncement of clipped shackles found in the primarily good spirited and reflective recent Alder Yarrow “Declaration of Independence” . Enthusiasts continue to be repressed by a profound problem, overlooked in Yarrow’s celebration of expanding wine availability and information sharing, and inadvertently demonstrated in Robert […]
Wine Discounts: Navigating the Email Jungle
I paused early this morning, scanning the middle third of the countless daily emails from preferred wine retailers that stared at me in unread boldface headlines hawking discounts worthy of going-out-of-business sales. Bin Ends Wine shop, a shrewd on and off-line wine monger with a uniquely well defined quality and value formula, was offering the 2001 Mauro Vendimia Seleccionada for $40 in three-pack buys. I […]
Two Styles of Cotes du Rhone for Now and Later
I can’t have enough transforming wine in my cellar; tannins melting and fruit evolving creating advanced and sensually pleasing characteristics to be enjoyed down the line. I am hooked on it. But inventory and time is money and it makes sense to seek out efficient cellaring strategies. Buoyed by just enough concurrence from fellow Rhone fans on […]
Cote du Rhones for the Ages?
Tasting through this year’s release parade of 2007 Cote du Rhones (CDR) reflects an intensity of reward found in vintages where mother nature sets the perfect table. I have been grinning and tasting the releasing 07 CDRs acknowledging their richness, depth of fruit, aligned structure, and across the board enjoyment. They offer a value buying opportunity with only one question; Buy just enough to drink over […]