It’s true…I read the wine press. What I find there is often misleading, mythologizing or just plain wrong. Sometimes, however, I find some useful information, but generally, by the end of the article, I’m shaking my head about something or another. Take, for instance, the recent ‘20 wine for $20’ list in the inestimable ‘New[…]
Lambert de Seyssel Petit Royal Seyssel, FR Regular price $19.99 So here’s the thing…sparkling wines, whether Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, Cremant or Francocortia have a tendency to be consumed only special or unique occasions. The bubbly exuberance surely lends itself to celebrations, but why can’t Tuesday night be a celebration? Enter the Lambert de Seyssel Royal.[…]
2016 Domaine de Fondreche Ventoux Rhone Valley, FR Regular price $24.99 Sale Price $19.99 Have I not mentioned this wine? Damn…I’ve been remiss! So here’s the thing…historically, the southern Rhone valley didn’t make big, ripe, voluptuous wines; rather the wines were balanced with very attractive red berry flavors, herbal and savory notes and abundant acidity.[…]
2017 Istine Rosato Tuscany, IT Regular price: $15.99 It’s February, so drink rosé! Or in this case, rosato! Actually, many of the wine ‘rules’ will demand that you do not, under any circumstances drink this wine. And if you do, if you happen to find yourself in a venue where this is the only wine,[…]
2017 Domaine Notre Dame de Pallières ‘L’Olivet’ Sablet Cotes du Rhone Villages, FR Regular price: $17.99 Back in the ‘80s, I ran a little restaurant in DC. I thought that I knew a bit about wine, (it was true, I knew a very little bit), so I set out to re-write and update the wine-list.[…]
2017 Vincent Paris Selections Syrah VdP des Collines Rhodaniennes Regular price: $17.99 It’s winter. Ergo, it’s often cold. And wet. A fireplace and a dog seem to be necessary. And a bottle of Syrah. Why Syrah, you ask? Because a good Northern Rhone Syrah is heart warming and food friendly. And when its cold and[…]
2015 Cavallotto Dolcetto d’Alba ‘Vigna Scot” Piedmont, Italy $19.99 Dolcetto is the middle child of Piedmont; the grapes is neither has simple as Barbera nor as regal as Nebbiolo. And there’s the problem of its name, which translates as ‘little sweet one’. The grape is indeed the sweet one, at least when compared to nebbiolo[…]
2016 Chateau Grand Launay Cotes de Bourg, Bordeaux Regular Price $15.99 Wine writers and the people that talk about wines on the radio seem to think that wines from Bordeaux are big, luscious, viscous beasts that cost thousands of dollars but are at the apex of the wine pyramid. Of course, as with most things,[…]
2016 Punta Crena Pettirosso Colline Savonesi, Liguria Regular Price $17.99 People that love wine, who truly love wine, delight in the thrill of finding a wine that they’ve never heard of before. Then, if that wine is also delicious, it feels like a miracle. And, imagine, if the wine is also inexpensive! This is that[…]
2016 Hillinger Zweigelt Burgenland, Austria Regular Price: $21.99 Sale Price $17.99 Wanna have some fun this holiday season? When your brother-in-law, the wine expert, starts mouthing off about his last trip to Napa and all the 100 point wines in his ‘cellar’, ask him about Austrian reds. Nope, tell him, not Australia…Austria. Then sit back[…]