This past month’s cascade of fascinating wines helped bid adieu to the nasty 2013 New England Spring season and usher in the familiar comforts of summertime drinking. From Napa to Chablis, three wines stubbornly replay like broken records in the piece of my brain that clings to memorable drinking vignettes. These wines, all intense values, […]
Top Three Wines – Roagna, Huet, and A Donkey & Goat
The fact these three wines rose to the top of an epically long list of compelling wines place them in a class of their own. One is from Sierra Foothills vineyards and a small young Berkeley, California winery while the other two are firmly ensconced in their old Barbaresco and Vouvray regions. A bonus to last month’s wine […]
Top Three Wines of May: Loire Valley and Niagara, Ontario
May’s “Top Three Wines” headline does not contain a typo. The reference to Ontario, Canada is purposeful. As a matter of fact, southern Ontario’s wine region (41°-44°) finds itself in a close latitudinal relationship with the Loire Valley (46°-47°), home turf for May’s other top wines. A couple of this month’s finishers are certain discoveries, […]
Top Three Wines of December
France scores a smooth hat trick in the WineZag “Top Three Wines” December round up. This holiday month provided ample opportunity to drink a lot of great, and not so great, wine with boastful price tags and venerable credentials. These WineZag “top three” wines are especially worthy, all offering pinnacle palate moments that stand out […]
Top Three Wines of November
The “Top Three Wines” of November includes one remarkable New World Mourvedre from California’s Central Coast sandwiched in between two Old World Bordeaux and Rioja showcase wines. I was unfamiliar with the claret from Saint-Estephe and the Rhone Ranger from Paso Robles until tasting them last month; both excellent new discoveries. Unfortunately, the oddball auction […]
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 […]
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 […]