For the record, wine assumptions are extremely easy to debunk. As soon as someone makes a declarative statement about wines, someone else can point out the flaws, contradictions and examples to prove that the statement isn’t just always, but is more likely, seldom true. So. I’m going to dive right in and say that if[…]
Cave de Tain ‘Premiere Note’ Marsanne, IGP Collines de Rhodaniennes 2015 Regular Price $14.99 Sale Price $11.99 Fresh and intense citrus flavors, including lemon and grapefruit, and delicate notes of white flowers. Bright and clear, with tints of green. Marsanne prefers the cooler slopes of the left bank of the Rhône river with sandy soils.[…]
Matilde Poggi at Le Fraghe had a problem. Her family winery, on the eastern shore of Lake Garda in Veneto, grows Corvina and Rondinella to blend into their excellent Bardolino. As the 2010 vintage was bountiful, she had more Rondinella than was usual and was unsure precisely what to do with it. Not her favorite[…]
Oak aging is a very hot topic these days. Depending on your point of view, and taste buds, its either a very, very good thing or a very, very bad thing. Both outlooks are problematic and fraught with misconceptions and outright lies. Within taking sides on the issue, let me try to explain… Oak barrels[…]
“Vinsobres or sober wine, drink it soberly”: this was the motto of Monseigneur de Suarès (bishop of Vaison and a staunch fan of these wines) in 1633, describing this Cru from Drôme Provençal. Actually, the name probably originates from the Latin words “vin sobris” or “vin sobrio” meaning “wine and work”. Or perhaps it comes from the[…]
Domaine de Fontsainte Rosé ‘Gris de Gris’, Corbieres 2016 Regular Price $16.99 Sale Price $12.99 70% Grenache Gris and Grenache Noir; 10% Mourvèdre; 10% Carignan; 10% Cinsault. The wine immediately gives off notes of raspberry, cherry and freshly picked strawberries – followed by aromas such as pineapple and mango. Fresh and rich, it’s fruity, full[…]
One of the great truths about wine is that the more you learn, the more you realize how much more that you have to learn. Those of us that have been doing this for a while have been humbled literally hundreds of times, either by guessing wrong at a blind tasting, offering poorly considered opinions[…]
Domaine Delalex ‘Marin’, Vin de Savoie 2014 Regular Price $22.99 Sale Price $17.99 The wine region of Savoie is located in the foothills of the Alps. The Delalex brothers, Samuel and Benoit, are among the very few trying to make wine at the highest level in the Chablais – along the Lac Léman, on the[…]
October’s Box of Exploration Loire Valley Six wines, six sensational producers, one region…explore, experience and enjoy the wines that you’ve perhaps wondered about…or revisit and reconnect with wines that you’re nearly forgotten. $150.00 (plus MD state alcohol sales tax, of course) regular price $188.94 Lauverjat Sancerre Rosé ‘Moulin des Vrilles’ 2016 Regular price $22.99 Sancerre is,[…]
Goisot Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre ‘Corps de Garde’ 2014 Regular Price $28.99 Sale Price $22.99 Just outside of Chablis there are two AOC’s: Saint-Bris, for Sauvignon and Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre (Burgundy from the hills of Auxerre) for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The soils here are extremely rocky and rich in the same types of limestone found[…]