VINOGRAPHY: a wine blog
Wine and food adventures in San Francisco and around the world
~ Recently in Wines under $20 Category ~
2007 Potel-Aviron Fleurie Vielles Vignes, Beaujolais, France
Should one of your New Years' resolutions be to broaden your wine horizons without breaking your wine budget, one of the places worth exploring would certainly be Beaujolais. Much maligned, or at the very least avoided -- and rightly so -- by many wine lovers whose experience with Beaujolais consists of a glass of banana-scented Nouveau in November, the region actually produces some truly wonderful wines that can be tremendous values. The Beaujolais region has seen a renaissance of winemaking in the past decade, with many serious, small producers trying to make wines that have much more in common with... continue reading 
- Posted by: Alder on January 5, 2010 10:45 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Errazuriz Winery, Chile: Current Releases
The Aconcagua valley presents the first time visitor with a surreal vista. From the flattened floodplain of the valley floor, mountains rise steeply on either side but only their rocky peaks are visible. Starting only a short distance down from their spires, and extending all the way to valley below, the mountains are wreathed in a bumpy, dense green outgrowth that makes them look like they've been carpeted with a dark Astroturf on a grand scale. How someone figured out that they could grow avocados on slopes so steep I'd love to know. But once upon a time they did,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 2, 2010 10:15 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Veramonte Winery, Chile: Current Releases
It's hard to believe that in the early 1990's less than 100 acres of vineyards were planted in Chile's Casablanca valley. In little more than two decades, this region of Chile has surged in growth and popularity, and is currently producing excellent wines that generally represent excellent values on the world market. The region is currently home to more than 10,000 acres of vineyards. Back when the grape acreage was still in the triple digits Agustin Huneeus decided that the Casablanca valley was one of Chile's most promising wine regions, and that he needed to start making wine there. Not... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 25, 2009 11:47 AM
- Filed under: Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Tasting the Wines of Lodi
I suppose you might measure my enthusiasm (or insanity) for learning about wine by the glee with which I look forward to the opportunities to taste several hundred wines from a particular region, vintage, or variety. The public tastings that afford any wine lover the chance to taste in this fashion are the single most valuable way to educate the palate as well as to find out what's going on in a particular place or vintage. So when the chance came to hang out on Treasure Island for a few hours to taste the wines of Lodi a couple of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 27, 2009 10:41 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Oriel Wines: Current Releases
There are those who suggest that the moment that wine went wrong when it became more than just what a few family members could manage to carefully wring out of a few acres. Wine's romance and magic tends to be bound up in a picture of how wine gets made that increasingly does not accurately portray the reality of today. And with good reason. The world of wine is bigger and more complicated than the local villages it grew up in, and there is both room and reason for there to be many size, shapes, and strategies for wineries throughout... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 20, 2009 9:10 PM
- Filed under: Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2005 Savanna "Sogno Due" White Wine, Campania, Italy
Despite all kinds of advice to the contrary, we continue to judge our books by the cover and our wines by the label. As humans we find it quite hard to turn off the part of our brains that rushes to judgment based on the surface of things. Presumably our lightning-quick opinions were advantageous to us at some point in evolutionary history, to the point that our first impressions are often so powerful we can't move past them. From racial stereotypes to celebrity obsession, we're often captives to our own psychology, whether we like it or not. So tell me,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 22, 2009 7:34 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (4) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
Tasting Oregon Riesling...At the International Pinot Noir Celebration?
Adulterous. Maybe a little sneaky, and a tiny bit rebellious. There I was at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon -- a whole weekend dedicated to the glory of Oregon Pinot Noir and it's Burgundy forebears -- when someone in a trench coat pulled me aside and whispered, "Hey buddy, wanna taste some Riesling?" The thought, frankly, couldn't have been the furthest thing from my mind at that point. But when the shadowy figure suggested that this was a nearly comprehensive tasting of all the Rieslings made in the state of Oregon, give or take a few, my interest... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 30, 2009 11:00 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Undiscovered Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2007 Point Concepcion "Celestina" Pinot Grigio, Santa Barbara County
I make it my habit to seek out and try a particular kind of wine that flies well under the radar of most wine lovers. Indeed, this kind of wine is all but unknown to most, yet some of my favorite wines in the world fall into this category -- a category that is not included in any book, classification, or encyclopedia of wines anywhere. These wines have something very special in common. Not the grapes used, nor the soils on which they are grown; not the country they come from, nor the climate in which they are grown. The... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 12, 2009 10:14 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Pink Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2007 Morgan "Metallico" Chardonnay, Monterey
It's not a huge leap from veterinary medicine to winemaking, and that leap is made even shorter when you're enrolled at UC Davis which happens to be the top school in the nation for both. Dan Lee initially thought he wanted to work with animals, but a few courses as electives during his vet school tenure were enough to convince him to immediately enroll in the Enology program as soon as he finished his undergraduate degree. While he still loves animals, Dan hasn't looked back, graduating and continuing on to become a winemaker for Jekel and Durney (now Heller... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 29, 2009 9:41 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2005 François Blanchard "Violoncelite" Cabernet Franc, Touraine, France
Perhaps some of the most interesting wines in the world are made by cranks, crackpots, and wackos -- iconoclasts that keep time to their own secret rhythms and make wine in ways that often make sense only to them. You might say that I'm a collector of such wines and winemakers, in the same way that young boys collect baseball cards. And today I'll add another to my growing menagerie of eccentric visionaries that make extraordinary wine. François Blanchard is a jazz musician who one day found himself the owner of his family's (somewhat decrepit) wine estate and decided that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 25, 2009 11:04 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Croatian Wine: Some Tasting Notes
There are a lot of wine regions I have yet to visit in the world, and with a young child I don't think I'll be getting to many in the next few years. But now that I've ticked South Africa off the list (a list that I've never really sat down to write), the region at the top may very well be Croatia. And this was before I tasted through the recent case of Croatian wines that arrived on my doorstep. Now that I've tasted them, I'm kicking myself for not dragging myself and Ruth there while we were childless.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 13, 2009 11:03 PM
- Filed under: Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2007 Rosemount Estate Show Reserve Chardonnay, Mudgee, Australia
In this day and age of farmers markets, boutique stores, and micro-breweries, it's easy for the upwardly mobile wine lover to forget that there are a lot of great wines on the market that are made in quantities well north of 5000 cases. There are big wine companies that make great wine, and big wine companies that make lousy wine. And some that do both. I've had mixed luck with Rosemount Estate wines throughout the years. I've had some wines that were everything I wanted them to be, and others that sent me running for the hills. In particular I... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 22, 2008 10:33 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2006 Handley Cellars "Hein Vineyard" Pinot Blanc, Anderson Valley
California's Anderson Valley remains one of its least known and most under-appreciated wine regions. In particular I believe it to be under-appreciated for its Pinot Noir, in particular, and in some cases, its Alsatian varieties of wine. I offer a slight caveat to the latter because while Anderson Valley is certainly known for producing wines in the style and varieties of those found in Alsace, France, in my experience they are mixed in quality. But when winemakers manage to get things right, Anderson Valley can produce some stunning examples of wines that might, in the right circumstances be mistaken for... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 8, 2008 11:28 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2007 York Creek Vineyards Touriga Nacional Rose, Sonoma County
One of my favorite punching bags in the world is the sorry state of California rosé. For some reason, winemakers just don't seem to be able to produce the beautifully dry, crisp, tart rosés that I have come to expect from southern France, southern Italy, and northern Spain. These Mediterranean wines are the benchmark for rosé, and most American wines fall quite short. Which is why I'm so enthusiastic when I discover pink wines that are made well in this country. And when they're made of exotic grape varieties, so much the better! If you gave me three guesses as... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 28, 2008 9:59 PM
- Filed under: Pink Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Ohyama Tokubetsu Junmai Nigori, Yamagata Prefecture
We all understand the power of brands. There was likely a time for most Americans alive to day when we used "Reynolds Wrap" when we meant aluminum foil. Some of us still say Kleenex instead of tissue and Xerox instead of photocopy. When one company pioneers a product that becomes so ubiquitous and common, it's likely that the name will stick, even when we're no longer using the original product. There was a time in Japan's history when sake was more easily referred to as Oyamazake, for exactly the same reasons. In 1882, the Shogun commanded that a sake... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 29, 2008 11:21 PM
- Filed under: Sake , Wines under $20
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2005 Veramonte "Primus" Red Wine, Casablanca Valley, Chile
It's hard to believe that in the early 1990's less than 100 acres of vineyards were planted in Chile's Casablanca valley. In little more than two decades, this region of Chile has surged in growth and popularity, and is currently producing excellent wines that generally represent fantastic values on the world market. The region is currently home to more than 10,000 acres of vineyards. Back when the grape acreage was still in the triple digits Agustin Huneeus decided that the Casablanca valley was one of Chile's most promising wine regions, and that he needed to start making wine there. Not... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 25, 2008 10:18 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (9) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2004 Chateau du Rouet "Cuvee Belle Poule" Blanc, Cotes de Provence, France
I drink wine from as many different countries as I can, as often as I can. I firmly believe that the only way I keep learning anything as a wine lover will be through continued exploration. There are times, though, when searching out new countries, grape varieties, and appellations just takes too much energy. At times like these, usually after a long week, I just want a nice meal and a good glass of wine to go with it. Like most people in these situations of part-exhaustion, I tend to stick to the predictable -- the least risky choice that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 21, 2008 10:47 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2005 Domaine de Chateau Gaillard Saumur, Loire Valley, France
The Loire Valley is perhaps one of the most underrated and unexplored (by most Americans) wine producing regions in France. So often eclipsed by the bombast of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhone, if it is known at all, the Loire tends to be known for its famous Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre. Yet the region, which is the largest white wine producing region in France, and the third largest winegrowing appellation (AOC) in the country, also produces many excellent red wines, chiefly from Cabernet Franc. The most dominating feature of the Loire Valley must be the river itself, France's longest and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 2, 2008 9:20 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Kikusui Funaguchi Ichiban Shibori Honzojo, Niigata Prefecture
I'll admit it right off the bat: I'm a serious sake snob. I don't mean that in the sense that I believe my taste in aake is superior to anyone else's, only that I'm extremely picky when it comes to sake. In particular, I tend to discriminate on the basis of the class of sake. I tend to prefer ginjo and daiginjo sakes, and most often the junmai versions of these. Ginjo and daiginjo are the two top classes of sake, as measured by the degree to which the rice kernels used to make them have been milled or polished... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 23, 2008 11:33 PM
- Filed under: Sake , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Kurosawa Kimoto Junmai, Nagano Prefecture
By W. Blake Gray. "Keep refrigerated," the labels say in English. So why do I keep finding these bottles of sake on ordinary store shelves? Here's an open letter to everyone who works in a store that carries sake. Walk over to the unrefrigerated sakes. Check the labels. If you find a delicate daiginjo with a label that says "keep refrigerated," take a big black marker and write "cooking sake" on it and slash the price to $5. Or, alternately, sell that sake to some unwitting customer, just as you would a case of beer that had been left out... continue reading
- Posted by: Blake on October 8, 2007 6:35 PM
- Filed under: Sake , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2006 Vincenzo Cesani Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy
If someone ever held my feet to the fire and forced me to name just one group of wines that I'm most excited about exploring these days, I would certainly squirm, as my curiosity for learning more about all the wines of the world does not have limits. However I would probably break down eventually, and with some honesty say that no category of wines really excites me as much these days, from a pure learning standpoint, as the indigenous white varietals of Italy. Throughout that country, on small farms and in small villages, winegrowers and winemakers are working with... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 12, 2007 6:07 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2005 René Noël Legrand "La Chaintrée" Cabernet Franc, Saumur Champigny, Loire Valley, France
Lots of people I know have a "house wine" -- some bottle that they buy in much larger quantities than any other wine and also consume in much larger quantities. A house wine is the inexpensive, drink-with-anything, because-I'd-just-like-a-glass, it-doesn't-matter-if-I-don't-finish-the-bottle, what-goes-with-day-old-pizza wine. In my opinion, every wine loving household should have one. For a lot of people this is clearly the place that Two Buck Chuck holds in their kitchen. I personally prefer to spend between ten and fifteen dollars on my house wine, and I'm constantly picking up random bottles at that price point just to see when I'm going... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 7, 2007 5:04 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Rolf Binder Wines, Barossa, Australia: Current Releases
Some of my favorite people in the world are those who offer no affect of their knowledge, even when you're swimming through waters in which they are clearly expert. I aspire to that sort of demeanor myself, but I've got work to do. Something in me always wants to be helpful, teacherly, and before I know it, I find myself rambling on about this or that. Guess what kind of old man I'm going to be? The kind that tells the same stories over, and over, and over again. I managed to sit through nearly an entire lunch of tasting... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 1, 2007 5:35 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2005 Spencer Roloson Grenache Blanc, California
It's particularly pleasurable to watch a small wine label mature and make a name for itself in the world. I guess that could sound patronizing if I didn't make clear that I underline this sentiment with the utmost admiration for the hard work and talent that is required to have a wine label survive at all, let alone thrive. I have been watching, and drinking, Spencer Roloson wines since I first started writing about wine. At that time they were on their third or fourth vintage, and owner winemaker Sam Spencer was still settling into his groove, as it were.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 6, 2007 10:29 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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WBW#35 Roundup Has Been Posted: Spanish Values
Wine Blogging Wednesday, the blogosphere's original virtual wine tasting party is going strong in its 35th month. We had top turnout of 41 bloggers, each of which sought out a value priced Spanish wine to taste as part of this month's event, hosted by Michelle and Kevin over at My Wine Education. I'm happy to see that people went far and wide to find a huge assortment of wines for this event, and many found their way to decent importers, successfully avoiding the mass market stuff, which while often decent, only represents a sliver of what Spain has to offer.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 16, 2007 10:38 PM
- Filed under: Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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The World's Best Prosecco: Tasting Conegliano Valdobbiadene
We Americans aren't deprived of much in the world when it comes to wine, but if there's one segment of the wine universe that remains highly unexplored by the average American wine drinker it's the world of non-Champagne sparkling wine. And I'm obviously not not talking about California wine. I'm talking about the hundreds of different types of sparkling wine made in dozens of countries around the world. Thankfully, as more people begin to appreciate the pleasures of bubbly but can't always spring for the price tag of Champagne, there is an increasing demand for alternatives, such as Prosecco. Prosecco... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 14, 2007 11:58 PM
- Filed under: Sparkling Wine , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2005 Torres "Mas Rabell" Red Wine, Catalunya, Spain
Most of the time I buy my wines from proper wine stores. Not just because I like to support them, but also because I'm a firm believer in cultivating a relationship with good wine retailers, who will inevitably turn you on to wines you might not have known about or tried. Sometimes, however, I'm wandering through the grocery store and something catches my eye (yes, sometimes I buy by the label, just like the rest of you) and I throw it in the cart. I came into possession of this wine in roughly that manner, with the additional variable of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 11, 2007 11:05 PM
- Filed under: Wine Activities , Wine Not To Buy , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Tamas Wine Estates, Livermore, CA: Current Releases
These days, California wine country evokes names like Napa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara. But if you arrived in San Francisco on a steamship in 1890, stepped out on the dock and asked anyone directions to wine country, they would have told you to get back on another boat and head across the Bay to the country's largest wine region, The Livermore Valley. It comes as a surprise to many people that Livermore, now well known for its government research labs and astronomically high population of PhD's per capita, was once one of the most well known winegrowing areas in America. It's... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 28, 2007 10:26 PM
- Filed under: Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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WBW#31 Roundup Has Been Posted: Box Wines
Drink inside the box, it might be called. This month's Wine Blogging Wednesday was hosted by Roger over at the Box Wines blog, and for this month's virtual wine tasting event, he suggested that we all go out and review wines with alternative packaging. From cans to bags to boxes to tetra-paks to bulk wine, bloggers around the world experimented with all the alternatives to the classic glass bottle -- and they lived to tell the tale. Not all of the wines were good -- some were downright bad, but it makes for amusing reading and certainly a great learning... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 16, 2007 6:08 PM
- Filed under: Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2005 French Rabbit Chardonnay, Vin de Pays d'Oc, France
In case you hadn't noticed, the wine packaging revolution is upon us. Or should I say, upon us again. It was only about a thousand years ago that wine came in a wide variety of packaging, from the scraped bladders of Eurasian mammals, to clay jugs, to woven waxed baskets, to precious glass bottles. Times changed of course, and wine packaging converged on the convenient, durable, and increasingly inexpensive glass bottle, but these days we are seeing a renaissance of options for toting man's favorite beverage. These days, the choices are even more varied than deer bladder vs. sheep bladder.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 14, 2007 10:43 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Domaine de Nizas, Languedoc, France: Current Releases
I can't tell you how many times I've heard friends say "I can't really afford French wine." Even after I suggest that there are plenty of French wines under twenty bucks, they're still liable to complain that they can't really afford "good French wine." Whenever I have that conversation I find myself wishing I had a backpack full of wines from the Languedoc handy. I'd whip out a bottle and a corkscrew like a gunslinger from the wild west and set them straight once and for all. The Languedoc has been the historical home to most of France's low-end table... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 25, 2007 8:59 AM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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NV "The Big Red Monster" Red Table Wine, California
You wouldn't believe the sort of stuff I get in the mail. Consumers are blissfully ignorant of the incredible amount of marketing dollars spent to push wines, not at everyday people, but specifically at journalists. In the last couple of years I've gained a certain amount of visibility in the wine world, and as a result, I receive a pretty steady stream of heavy boxes with "Adult Signature Required. 21 Years or older" stickers on them. Many of these simply contain a few bottles of wine and a letter from a winemaker urging me to try them. But many of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 13, 2007 10:36 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2003 Bibich Debit, Skradin (North Dalmatia), Croatia
In my last post here on Vinography I mulled, tongue-in-cheek about the impact of wine on the hallowed halls of civilization, and in particular on the English language. Fun and games aside, wine and language are just as inextricably entwined through history as wine and culture. Lest there be any doubt, one need look no further than the northern coasts of Dalmatia, which has been making wine from a grape with a strangely (to English speakers) familiar name for two centuries. Actually the winemaking traditions in Croatia go back well before the Roman Empire, though it was the Romans who... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 6, 2007 6:06 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (2) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
EOS Estate Winery, Paso Robles: Current Releases
There exist an endless number of stories about how families get into the wine business. Some (mostly in Europe) have been in the business so long no one can remember hearing about a time when the family wasn't making wines. Some come to it almost by accident, working for a winery and then slowly building a life around wine to the point they can't imagine doing anything else. Some of the more interesting traditions of family winemaking begin with an immigrant story, and the growing of wine literally becomes one of the ways that individuals finally set down their roots... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 15, 2006 11:54 PM
- Filed under: Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2005 Hook and Ladder "The Tillerman" White Blend, Russian River Valley, Sonoma
Old winemakers don't die, they just start another label. I've never seen this bumper sticker on any old pickup truck in Napa valley, but in addition to being cute, it's certainly a truism if I've ever heard one. While making wine is tough work, the better you get, the more you've got other folks who can do the heavy lifting for you while you make the critical decisions that ultimately determine the nature of the wine that is produced. That's why it's possible for us to have the cliché of the crusty old winemaker, still tottering around through the vineyards... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 9, 2006 1:28 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Tsuki no Katsura Junmai Daiginjo Nigori Sake, Kyoto
Little kids go through a phase where they need to put everything in their mouth. I wonder what it says about me that I'm pretty much stuck there? I really enjoy trying out new wines and sakes, especially those that are well off the beaten path. So when Beau Timkin, the owner of True Sake in San Francisco handed me this bottle and said "check this out" I couldn't resist. After all, it was the sake equivalent of....well.....(if you'll excuse what may be a somewhat obscure (to you) Japanese animation reference) Howl's Moving Castle. This sake is: 1. Nigori -... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 26, 2006 9:46 PM
- Filed under: Sake , Wines under $20
- Comments (4) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2005 Boutari Moschofilero, Mantinia (Peloponnese), Greece
OK. So I'm on a bit of a Greek wine kick these days. Trying to poke my nose into potentially up-and-coming wine regions. Although, as I've mentioned, Greece would be entering perhaps it's "third time around" as a major global wine region. Certainly there's a lot of wine made in Greece, but less than historical times, and only some of it is gradually winning acclaim on the world market for being high quality. Quality seems like it has two ways of building in the marketplace of any wine region, at the well-financed hands of the big guys, and in the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 19, 2006 10:56 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
Pey-Marin Vineyards, Marin: Current Releases
I love watching the wine world evolve. In particular I enjoy seeing new wines spring up like the proverbial dragon's teeth, sown by the visionary and the lucky in sometimes surprising places. I harbor the private theory that great wines can be grown in a lot more places than they currently are. Which is why I'm thrilled to explore wines from the fringes of the known winegrowing world, such as Malbec from the far southern reaches of Patagonia, or perhaps closer to home, Alsatian varietals grown in Marin county. Marin County wine? Those unfamiliar with the San Francisco Bay Area... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 11, 2006 4:01 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (7) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2004 Argyros Estate "Barrel Select" White Wine, Santorini, Greece
I go out of my way to taste wines from up-and-coming, out of the way, and generally obscure wine regions. I never know what I'm going to find, and sometimes I'm really surprised. Greece can hardly be considered any of those things, perhaps with the exception of up-and-coming, but if one were to be wholly accurate you'd have to say "up-and-coming, again." The Greeks have been making wine for a long long time (since roughly 1600 BC), though unfortunately their reputation as winemakers suffered a setback in the 1960's with the dramatic rise in popularity of retsina, a white wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 2, 2006 9:59 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (5) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2004 Kiona Vineyards Late Harvest Riesling, Red Mountain, Washington
Frequent readers know that I'm not the greatest fan of dessert wines. Most sweet wines just don't have enough acidity to keep me from feeling like I'm drinking syrup, and many are just too sweet for me to take. Even though I had a huge sweet tooth as a kid, these days it's pretty easy for less than stellar dessert wine to push me into the zone where I feel like I ought to be taking insulin pills along with each sip. Dessert wines, however, are certainly one of the wine world's most hedonistic pleasures. When they are good, I... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 9, 2006 5:10 PM
- Filed under: Dessert Wine , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2004 Palmina Pinot Grigio, Santa Barbara County
You know how some entrepreneurs seem to start businesses in their sleep? They create a company, make it profitable or sell it to someone, and then it seems like a week into their "vacation" they're starting another one, and another. The most successful of these seem to have the Midas touch, with each business more successful than the last, as if they can't help but make tons of money. There's an analogue to this type of personality in the wine world, and it is readily demonstrated by one Steve Clifton. Clifton is best known for his partnership in Brewer-Clifton wines... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 22, 2006 5:11 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2003 Movia Ribolla Gialla, Brda, Slovenia
I am, like many of you readers, supremely lucky to be able to buy and to drink a wide variety of wines. Certainly the selection of wines here in California is exceptional, unfettered as we are from state-run liquor monopolies. Despite such an abundance of wines from all over the world, it never ceases to amaze me how many people seem to be stuck in the rut of only ever drinking a few basic California-produced varietals. While the number of different types of wine produced in California is growing all the time, it still pales in comparison to somewhere like... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 1, 2006 10:46 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Cumulus Wines, Orange, Australia: Current Releases
Where exactly on earth is Orange? Sounds like the beginning of either a children's riddle or a dirty joke. But it's a very interesting question, especially if you care about Australian wine Orange is the most interesting Australia appellation that I've never heard of. Interestingly, it's one of the closest appellations to Sydney, but somehow has never made it out of the shadow of its elder sibling, the Hunter Valley. Yet this craggy region, marked by extinct volcanoes and plunging hills, is one of Australia's highest altitude and coolest winegrowing zones, and to a certain type of winemaker and wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 22, 2006 11:29 PM
- Filed under: Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2001 Smith Madrone Chardonnay, Spring Mountain District, Napa
There are more legends, stories, fairytales, and fables than anyone could count which all involve some guy up on a mountainside somewhere. Sometimes a hermit, sometimes a wizard, sometimes a troll -- sometimes just an old man who went to sleep under a tree for a long, long time. No matter what the story, there's always something a little different about the guy on the mountain, something that is both scary and alluring at the same time. Stu Smith might be living out yet another version of one of these tales. His start as a winemaker certainly sounds like it... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 12, 2006 11:23 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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1994 Domaine Aux Moines Chenin Blanc, Savennieres-Roche Aux Moines, France
South-central France has many distinguishing characteristics, but the one that cannot be avoided and ignored, and certainly cannot be underestimated, is the Massif Central. This huge upwelling of ancient granite, and the limestone and sandstone it sloughed aside as it rose, present a formidable obstacle for anyone attempting to drive from, say, Clermont-Ferrand to Nimes. As large mountain ranges have a habit of doing, it also drives many of the weather systems in the area, capturing moisture, and unleashing it in torrents. Somewhere in a sub-range of the Massif Central called the Cévennes, a trickle begins amidst granite and limestone,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 2, 2006 7:16 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Older Vintages , White Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (2) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
Cameron Hughes Wines, San Francisco: Current Releases
The continued evolution of the global wine marketplace has made many things possible for many people. Small regional wineries that couldn't survive, let alone exist twenty years ago are now thriving because there are folks out there like me and you that are looking for just the type of wines they are producing. Likewise, the proliferation of estateless wineries (bonded, licensed wineries that own no land and may even rent their winemaking facilities) has exploded in California in particular. Finally, a relatively recent phenomenon for California and the US (though old news to the negociants in France) has surfaced in... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 30, 2006 5:36 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
Drinking Pink: Notes From the RAP Pink Out Rose Tasting
When the temperatures are topping out above 90 nearly every day in San Francisco, you know it's hot. The poor folks in the rest of the country are usually anywhere from ten to twenty degrees hotter than we ever get, so we have no reason to complain. But we might have reason to heavily chill some rosé and take off all our clothes. It's no wonder then, that in addition to seeing more publicly bared flesh within the San Francisco city limits than I can remember in a long time, I also found myself at the RAP Pink Out Rosé... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 22, 2006 6:33 PM
- Filed under: Pink Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2004 Sula Vineyards Chenin Blanc, Nashik, India
Regular readers know I jump at any opportunity to try interesting wines, especially from regions that I'm unfamiliar with. I've been hearing about Indian wines off and on for a while now, and I took special note when I saw recently that some famous winemakers like Michel Rolland were going there to help people make wine. India is such a huge country with such a wide range of topography that there just have to be places that are good for growing wine grapes, provided there were people with the interest and the expertise to do so. Apparently, the Nashik region... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 19, 2006 6:16 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2003 Bokisch Graciano, Lodi, CA
There are endless stories of winemakers (and those who dream of becoming winemakers) spending their careers and lives waiting for the chance to finally buy a piece of land in Napa and start their own label. Markus and Liz Bokisch did just the opposite. It wasn't necessarily that they wanted to flee Napa. Markus was having a fine time as a viticulturalist working for Joseph Phelps, and in particular in his role on what Phelps called the "Le Mistral" program. Markus' job was to scour Northern California for out of the way growing areas planted with old vines bearing Grenache,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 5, 2006 9:05 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2001 Vignerons du Quercy "Les Hauts Lastour" Red wine, Coteaux du Quercy (Cahors), France
Ask anyone in the wine business, or any serious wine snob what the top five most salient "issues" are in the world of wine and chances are good that somewhere in those top five will be some variation on rising alcohol levels. That wines are getting more potent worldwide is an unassailable fact. Since the 1970s (a time when alcohol levels remained pretty much unchanged from their historical values for the past century) the average potency of wines has risen several percentage points. That doesn't sound like much, but when you look at it in relative terms for some wines,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 14, 2006 10:56 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2003 Azienda Agricola Ajello "Furat" IGT Red Blend, Sicily
I learn things drinking wine all the time, and some of what I learn is even the sort of stuff that I missed in history class. For instance, I had no idea that at one time Sicily was a part of the Islamic empire of that ruled north Africa for a few centuries. But here we have a wine, and a lovely one at that, whose name "Furat" speaks volumes of history. Asad ibn al Furat was a Mesopotamian, but emigrated to what is now Tunisia in the beginning of the 9th century. He distinguished himself as a religious scholar... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 11, 2006 11:16 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (5) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
1999 Louis Bernard Vacqueyras, Rhone Valley, France
Why people still argue about global warming is beyond me. The only proof I need are folks like the Inuit, whose boots are now squelching mud where permafrost used to be, and the grape growers of France's Southern Rhone whose weather is getting much less volatile and quite a bit warmer. Most American wine drinkers, even those who consider themselves wine aficionados can't be bothered to keep track of the historically variable weather and subsequent harvest quality in the winegrowing regions of France. Heck, I read all about it, but I can't always remember half the time whether it was... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 30, 2006 6:14 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2004 Domaine Rimbert Rosé, Saint Chinian, Languedoc, France
It may be cold as hell in San Francisco right now, and pouring rain earlier in the day, but that doesn't stop me from drinking pink wines. Touted as the savior of summer, and other such nonsense that basically puts these wines on the same level as cold soda pop on a hot day, rosé wines are some of my favorites to pair with a good part of the wide variety of ethnic foods that we eat in the Bay Area on a regular basis. Going out for Mediterranean? Vietnamese? Tapas? I'm much more likely to leave the house with... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 21, 2006 11:29 PM
- Filed under: Pink Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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1995 Hau Xia Cabernet Sauvignon, Changli of Hebei Province, China
I've been wanting to try Chinese wine for a year or so, as I've followed the increasing growth of the Chinese wine industry and the growing popularity of wine in China. On a business trip to LA a couple of weeks ago, I happened to eat a rushed meal at the bar in a restaurant with an extensive by-the-glass list, and what should appear on one of the pages but this little gem. When I placed my order, the bartender raised his eyebrow, and said "Oh, adventurous, aren't you?" I don't normally take that as an encouraging sign, but I... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 15, 2006 7:49 PM
- Filed under: Older Vintages , Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2004 Domaine Gaillard "Le Secret Ivre" White Wine, Vin de Pays des Collines (Rhone), France
I'm on a kick. That's the opposite of a rut, I guess. I'm drinking a bunch of the same stuff and loving it. This month, despite the chilly weather in San Francisco, I'm all about white wines from the Southern Rhone. I've always enjoyed these in the past when I've had them (most often by the glass at French restaurants) but more and more I'm seeking them out as extremely food friendly alternatives to my usual white Burgundy and whites from the Loire. So when I found myself and a couple of new friends recently in an LA restaurant (possibly... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 2, 2006 11:12 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 Naggiar Vineyards Sangiovese, Sierra Foothills, CA
The Sierra foothills is one of California's most under explored, and perhaps, underappreciated winegrowing regions. The Sierra Foothills AVA (American Viticultural Area) is the third largest appellation in California after the Central Coast, and the North Coast. It encompasses entirely the AVAs of Shenandoah Valley, El Dorado, Fair Play, Fiddletown, and North Yuba, and overlaps with Amador and Lodi. In other countries in the world, the foothills of major mountain ranges are often the primary and most famous winegrowing regions, but in California they take a back seat to some of the valleys. Certainly Napa and Sonoma are more consistent... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 23, 2006 5:47 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2004 Domaine August Clape Blanc, Côtes-du-Rhône, France
Some wines just ruin you. One sip and you realize the folly of your ways and can never go back to thinking or drinking wine quite the same way again. Really, when I think about it, this happens to me all the time. Not with every wine, mind you, but with many good ones, there's something in the glass that lifts you to a place that you can't come back from. Of course, you do go back and have a California Sauvignon Blanc every once in a while after tasting a great Sancerre, but you'll always remember that there's something... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 7, 2006 10:54 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (6) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Southern Right Pinotage, Western Cape, South Africa
I like underdogs -- the scrappy runts of the litter that have to struggle to survive, the desperately pitiful teams that make up in spunk what they lack in talent. I also have a soft spot in my heart for those folks who are stubbornly persistent in the face of lousy odds and prevailing common sense stacked against them. This may be part of the reason that, despite never really having one that I've enjoyed, I keep trying Pinotage whenever I get the chance. Pinotage is the sort of red-headed stepchild of the wine grape world, brought into the world... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 4, 2006 11:59 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2005 La Yunta Torrontés Riojana, La Rioja, Argentina
I'm always looking for good wines to go with Chinese food. Especially around the holidays, when we eat with my Chinese in-laws. I like to drink wine with meals, and so does Ruth, but we haven't yet found the perfect wine for her country's cuisine. We enjoy Gewurztraminer with certain dishes, or Verdelho with others, an occasional Austrian Riesling or Gruner Veltliner, but we haven't quite hit on one that is consistently a good match with the wide variety of flavors that can be found in a proper Chinese meal. Hence, we're constantly experimenting with different wines. We're visiting Ruth's... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 25, 2005 11:59 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2002 Jim Barry "The Cover Drive" Cabernet, Clare Valley, Australia
I'm not convinced entirely that Australia is a great place for Cabernet. I've had some pretty solid Cabernet/Shiraz blends from Down Under, but it is rare that I find a pure Cabernet wine that I think stands on its own. Much of the time they have a green, vegetal characteristic and very bitter tannins which, though they might mellow with ten years in the cellar, make them downright unpleasant to drink on release. How surprised I was, then, to come across this little gem of a wine, which was not only decent, but also a steal. Jim Barry is... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 16, 2005 10:35 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2004 Magnet (Sin é) Pinot Noir, Sonoma
We all occasionally buy wine by the label. While I imagine that there are a few complete wine snobs out there who only drink four or five different wines whose names everyone knows, pretty much anyone who is curious about wine has at one time or another shrugged their shoulders and reached for that strange bottle on the shelf just because, well, it looked interesting. What would happen if scores of people all over the world went out to their local grocery stores and wine shops to buy a bottle, with the only criteria being that they had to select... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 7, 2005 8:11 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2003 Vinum Cellars 'VIO" Viognier, San Benito County, CA
I can't tell you how many stories I've heard of winemakers striking out on their own or forming partnership brokered by their shared love for Pinot Noir. Happens every day, practically. This is not one of those stories. Or rather it is one of those stories, but Pinot Noir is not part of the cast. Instead, the guys at Vinum Cellars were brought together because of their shared love of Chenin Blanc. A quirky and unlikely candidate for creating the passion that fuels the creation of a new winery to be sure, but the winery that this grape has spawned,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 5, 2005 4:21 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (2) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2004 Uriondo Txakolina, Bizkaiko (Basque), Spain
If I could find a wine like this once a month, for the rest of my life, I think I would die a happy man. Not that it's such an amazing wine, it's tasty but not mind-blowing, but its just got so much unique personality, and it is so different from what I drink on a daily basis. The world of wine is a wide and wonderful place. But let me back up, since you may still be stumbling over the name of the thing, which to most Americans is quite a mouthful. The name of the producer is Uriondo,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 30, 2005 11:30 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (7) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
Cameron Hughes Wines, San Francisco: Current Releases
The continued evolution of the global wine marketplace has made many things possible for many people. Small regional wineries that couldn't survive, let alone exist twenty years ago are now thriving because there are folks out there like me and you that are looking for just the type of wines they are producing. Likewise, the proliferation of estateless wineries (bonded, licensed wineries that own no land and may even rent their winemaking facilities) has exploded in California in particular. Finally, a relatively recent phenomenon for California and the US (though old news to the negociants in France) has surfaced in... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 28, 2005 10:11 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- - Permalink
2003 Chateau de Montpezat "Palombieres" Coteaux du Languedoc, France
It seems like my friends who are serious wine drinkers and even winemakers are strictly divided on Grenache. Some think it's the next big thing, while others could really take it or leave it. Sure, they'll drink a nice Gigondas every once in a while, or a good crisp rose, but they don't understand what all the fuss is about. If I had to fall into one of those camps, I'm probably in the former, rather than the latter. I happen to like the tart acidity and berry flavors of Grenache, and I especially like it when it's not turned... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 17, 2005 10:06 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2004 Quinta do Alqueve Fernão Pires, Ribetejano, Portugal
Perhaps we can make this week be about fantastic wine bargains. Earlier in the week I blogged about a great New Zealand Pinot Noir for about twelve bucks, now I'm telling about what might just be the best white wine I've ever had at the $11 price range. Let's start off by asking the most obvious question: Who was Fernão Pires anyway, and why is there an obscure Mediterranean Grape named after him? Well the first answer is that Fernao Pires is the same grape as one called Maria Gomes elsewhere in Portugal, which is where this grape makes its... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 7, 2005 5:29 PM
- Filed under: Undiscovered Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2001 Syren Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand
If you you take all the Pinot Noir winegrowing regions of the world and you subtract out all that are in Europe, and likewise all that are on the west coast of the United States, what are you left with? Quite a few places, really, but all of them might be lumped together in a flight of fancy under the name "New New World." Call them up-and-coming, call them fringe, call them frontiers of winemaking -- it was from these regions that bloggers around the Internet were instructed to select a wine for Wine Blogging Wednesday 14, hosted by Jens... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 5, 2005 10:48 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Small Producers of France: A Tasting of Robert Kacher Selections
This entry could just have easily been entitled "eclectic little wines from France" or "the best French wines you may never have heard of" or "One man's guide to some good French &%$@." Robert Kacher has been chasing down and importing wines from France (and, it turns out, Portugal) for over 30 years. It's unfair to both of their accomplishments to compare him with Kermit Lynch, but by way of illustration, I hold both of them in the same esteem as luminaries and ambassadors to a world of fabulous wines that even many wine lovers have never heard of. The... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 29, 2005 9:29 PM
- Filed under: Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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1996 Stony Hill Semillon de Soleil, Napa
OK. I admit it. I really don't like dessert wines. Eiswein? Forget it. Muscat? Ick. Even many Sauternes just are overkill on the sweetness. I really need a wine to have enough acidity to cut through the sweetness before I will pay attention. Too many dessert wines are cloying and sticky, basically as appealing to me as drinking a mouthful of maple syrup. So when a dessert wine has the right balance of sugar, acid, and alcohol, when there is more than one dominant flavor in the wine, I tend to sit up and take notice. I don't know how... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 17, 2005 11:03 PM
- Filed under: Dessert Wine , Older Vintages , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (6) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
1999 Királyudvar "Lapis" Late Harvest Tokaji Furmint, Tokaj, Hungary
Let me get down on my knees and pray to the gods of wine drinking. "Please, oh gods who bestow blessings upon those who call themselves wine drinkers, let me continue to be surprised and delighted by random wines that I stumble across in my life. I don't need to taste the vintage of the century, and I probably can't afford it, but I really want to still be finding out about wines like this when I'm eighty-five." Of course, this is where the fantasy of being a sommelier comes along. Imagine spending your days actually hunting down these wines.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 14, 2005 7:54 PM
- Filed under: Undiscovered Wines , White Wine , Wines under $20
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2003 CrauforD "The Highlander" Sauvignon Blanc, Napa
The CrauforD Wine Company began as a conversation over dinner. Marilyn "Mama" Crawford Anderson sat at the dinner table and looked around at her daughter, a working winemaker, and her daughter-in-law, an accomplished viticultralist and vineyard manager. "There's just too much talent at this table for us girls not to be making our own wines," she said. She would know -- she and her husband were the founder and owners of Monticello Vineyards for years. Apparently a little encouragement and support from Mama Crawford was hard to ignore, especially when it came with a bit of start-up financing. So by... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 3, 2005 8:04 AM
- Filed under: Undiscovered Wines , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (0) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
1999 Domaine de Nizas, Coteaux De Languedoc, France
The Languedoc wine region of southeast France that straddles the bottom of a the better known region of Provence produces more wine than any other area of France by volume. Most of it never makes it to the USA, and much of it never even makes it to the table of French wine drinkers, at least the discerning ones. Most of the production goes to what we would call "jug wine" here in the US, and what generally passes here at Vinography for "crap wine." To dismiss the Languedoc on that basis, however, would be a grave mistake, as it... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 27, 2005 5:16 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Nicolette Christopher "Daniela" Pinot Noir, Carneros, CA
Hand-crafted is a term that has been abused by wine marketers and copywriters for a long time, but it still means something, and there are still winemakers who live up to its humble promise. There are a lot of small wineries that could qualify for the use of this descriptor, all at varying sizes, but you don't get much closer to hand crafted than a man, his wife, a friend, 5 barrels and 2186 pounds of Pinot Noir. Nicolette Christopher is a tiny winery started in 2001 by Chris and Nicolette Demetre. Like many small wineries, it represents the realization... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 12, 2005 11:14 AM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2003 Taft Street Winery Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, Sonoma
The term garagiste entered the wine lexicon about 10 or 15 years ago, mostly because of some enterprising small producers in Bordeaux who were bucking the tradition and winemaking styles of the large established Chateaux. Since these winemakers rose to prominence, with a little help from Robert Parker, the term has gone from an originally derogatory or at least disdainful label to one that is useful for describing all manner of small winemakers around the world, some of whom actually do make wine in their garages. While certainly not the first to make wine in a garage John and Mike... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 9, 2005 9:54 AM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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2003 Chateau des Gavelles Rosé, Coteaux d'Aix en Provence, France
I drink rosé all year round, but it's awfully nice in the summer (as nearly every wine magazine and newspaper has been telling you for the past three months). And where better to get your rosé than the one appellation that is practically dedicated to it: Coteaux d'Aix en Provence. This area of southern France produces 1.7 million cases of wine each year, a full fifty percent of which are rosé. I don't know any other place in the world that produces that high a percentage of pink wine in their overall output. Perhaps it's because they've always been making... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 1, 2005 12:37 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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The 2004 Vintage in Germany and Austria: An Idiots Point of View
Before you read any further, you should know that I'm the idiot. I know next to nothing about German and Austrian wines. Before last week I had tasted probably thirty of them in my life. Maybe fifty. They'd just never been a real source of interest. Sure I'd had a lovely Gewurztraminer here and there, a gorgeous dry Riesling over Thai food, but honestly I never really made a serious study. This, of course, is problematic when you hang out with people who are convinced that German and Austrian wines are the best wines on the planet. And I do... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 22, 2005 11:50 PM
- Filed under: Dessert Wine , White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (14) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2003 Morgante Nero d' Avola IGT Vendemmia, Sicily
The more Nero d'Avola I have, the more I like it. This earthy old world varietal, native to the island of Sicily, seems to produce wines that are capable of calling one back to an earlier time and atmosphere, filtered with afternoon sunlight and redolent with the smells of fresh coffee, dirt from the fields, and someone's mother's cooking from down the cobblestone streets. True connoisseurs of the varietal will tell you it's pretty hard to get wines that really do that, as they are made by small families in small quantities, even smaller bits of which seem to make... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 20, 2005 5:32 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (7) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Cellar de Capçanes "Mas Donis Barrica" Red Wine, Montsant, Spain
As far as Spanish appellations go, Montsant is a bit of a baby -- small and young. Only established in 2001, after being pulled out as a distinct D.O. (Denominacion de Origen) from the larger Tarragona region that surrounds the famous Priorat, Montsant now rings the Priorat, a concentric circle around its famous forbearer, roughly 100 miles south of Barcelona, Spain. The Montsant region is marked by old volcanic slopes of nutrient poor, mineral rich soils covering granite and slate, and little rainfall. The primarily Grenache vines (along with Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Carignan) in the area must... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 17, 2005 10:18 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (0) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Samos Grand Cru Vin Doux (Muscat), Samos, Greece
It's not everyone that can claim they've been making quality wine pretty much continuously since at least the twelfth century B.C. Most people also can't say with authority that their wines were the favorites of people like Hippocrates. You know, that greek guy who invented, um, well. At least I know they named the Hippocratic Oath after him. In any case, very few places in the world have a winemaking pedigree like the people of the island of Samos. A thumbnail sized, green mountainous island that pokes up out of the eastern Agean sea, the name Samos comes from... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 13, 2005 3:16 PM
- Filed under: Dessert Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (4) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 Jeff Runquist "R" Barbera, Amador County, CA
During the Gold Rush, when the Italian immigrants came west across the plains and through the rugged mountainous section of the Sierras they named the Desolation Wilderness, their arrival on the gently sloping foothills of Amador County must have seemed a bit like coming home to the old country. Green in the winter, and shining golden in the summer, this section of California is not unlike areas of Northern Tuscany or Piedmont. It's no wonder then, that in addition to settling down to prospect for gold, open up restaurants and stores, and set up family farms that some of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 5, 2005 6:11 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (5) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Domaine Taluau-Foltzenlogel "Vieilles Vignes" Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Loire Valley, France
I'm sure I'm going to end up on some Homeland Security watch list, or at least on the Republican National Committee blacklist for this but who cares. I'm reviewing a French wine on Independence Day. Consider it an homage to the philosophical underpinnings of our own revolution, a tip-of-the-hat to the ideological impetus behind our eventual independence. In a further obfuscatory and untraditional manner, I've reviewing a Loire wine, but not one of the famous Sauvignon Blanc based wines of the region. Instead I'm reviewing this lovely Cabernet Franc based wine from Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, a small appellation smack-dab in the middle... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 4, 2005 2:28 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (7) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 St. Innocent "Freedom Hill Vineyard" Pinot Blanc, Willamette Valley, Oregon
This wine review is my contribution to today's online wine tasting event known as Wine Blogging Wednesday. This incarnation is being hosted by Alice over at My Adventures In The Breadbox and she has decided the theme would be White Pinot. White Pinot refers to the two common mutations of the Pinot Noir grape that are cultivated with regularity: Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, which for many years people thought was Chardonnay (and vice versa). As a result, here I am sipping the fruits of St. Innocent, a small winery in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Founded by Mark Vlossak... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 8, 2005 11:58 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (1) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 Olson & Ogden "Sonoma Valley" Syrah, Sonoma
As regular readers know, I am very interested in small, family-run wineries. These come in several flavors in the industry, and one of the most interesting to me is the estate-less label -- those wineries who have no permanent physical presence. These types of operations have no vineyards, own no buildings, and sometimes don't even own any equipment. Such wineries are most often the result of someone taking small steps towards their personal dream of being in the wine business, and are often sources for great wines at reasonable prices. Olson & Ogden winery is a perfect example of such... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 21, 2005 10:24 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2001 Luna Vineyards Merlot, Napa
I must have driven past Luna Vineyards about a hundred times. As it is right at the start of the Silverado Trail, I've been reluctant to stop on my way to places farther up the valley. Recently, though, I had the opportunity to try this wine and I'm realizing that I may have been missing out on some good wines. Luna Vineyards might be the answer to the proverbial question, "How many high-powered wine industry executives does it take to...er...start a winery?" Luna, started in 1995, is the brain child of George Vare, Mike Moone, and John Kongsgaard, all big-time... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 13, 2005 10:49 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2002 Steltzner Claret, Napa
If you're a Napa wine drinker, even if you've never heard of Steltzner Vineyards, you have almost assuredly had a wine that in some way has been touched by Dick Steltzner. A third generation Californian, from a farming family, Steltzner originally wanted to leave all that behind and become an artist, and in the early Sixties he was living in St. Helena following his dream. By 1964 though, he was having second thoughts about his chosen path, and in what would be a fateful decision, bought some land in the Stag's Leap district and started growing grapes. Having been acquainted... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 21, 2005 5:14 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Chateau de Lascaux, Coteaux Du Languedoc, France
OK. So I bought another wine because of the label. And because I'm into Languedoc wines these days. And because it was imported by Kermit Lynch. But really? I bought it because of the name and the label. You see, I have a thing for Lascaux, the gorgeous cave site that hosts a massive mural of 18,000 year old prehistoric art beautifully preserved into modern times. I've never been there, but some of the figures from the wall, including the small horse which adorns the label of this wine are indelibly etched in my mind. Some day I will make... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 5, 2005 6:20 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (8) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2002 X Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
Why should wine lovers constantly be tasting wines, even from wineries that don't make great wines? Because they can, and sometimes do get better. Now I'm not saying you should be going out and buying cases of stuff from wineries whose wines you don't like. But what I am saying is don't write anyone off completely. Case in point: this wine from X Winery up in Napa. Their 2001 Cabernet was one of the first wines I tasted and wrote about after starting Vinography, and frankly I hated it. It was vegetal and tannic and really closed. I was probably... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 3, 2005 5:50 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (4) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2003 TAZ Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County, California
It's always a little bit of a mystery to me when I come across small producers that are part of huge wine corporations. Firstly, I wonder at their ability to remain relatively independent entities and I'm inherently suspicious about whether they are actually small producers that perhaps one day decided to cash out and become part of a conglomerate, or whether they are cleverly executed niche marketing programs set up by savvy corporate marketers. Take TAZ Vineyards for instance, which is part of the large wine conglomerate known as Beringer-Blass which produces a staggering 7.7 million cases of wine per... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 1, 2005 9:24 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (4) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2002 Big Ass Cab, Napa
It's Wine Blogging Wednesday again, and this month's theme is Wacky Wine Names, hosted and invented by Chez Pim. I toyed with many options for a potential entry to this event, but ultimately, I was strolling through a deli up in Sonoma county when this wine's label caught my eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again. The idea of big ass Cabernet is distinctly Californian, and frankly it's about time someone just put it on the label. If the Old World... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 26, 2005 1:13 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (52) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 Adegas Galegas "Dionisos" Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain
It's always great for me to be able to bring you wines that are relatively cheap and totally delicious. It's even a bigger bonus if they are made by small artisan producers, which this producer sort of qualifies for (See more below). It is with glee that I present what is one of the best, if not THE BEST tasting Albariño I've ever had. Albariño is appreciated by many for the steely, highly mineral, crisp white wines made from it, mostly in the Rias Baixas area of Spain. Albariños typically have lots of calcium, lime, and slate flavors accompanied by... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 25, 2005 6:01 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2001 Domaine De La Verde, Vacqueyras (Rhone), France
For a while I've maintained a strong attraction to the wines of Gigondas, a tiny little appellation tucked into the southern Rhone, and I'm beginning to develop a bit of a crush on its even tinier neighbor, the microscopic town called Vacqueyras. This little 12th century village is situated in the general Cotes-du-Rhone winemaking region, but like a few other small villages in the area, it also has its own appellation with the same name. Vacqueyras is located in the Ouvèze valley just to the west of the Dentelles de Montmirail, whose limestone peaks are the primary geologic feature of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 19, 2005 10:42 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (5) - TrackBacks (2) - Permalink
2002 Spann Vineyards "Mo Jo" Red Blend, Sonoma
Everyone comes to the wine business from different places and for different reasons. Peter and Betsy Spann describe their entry into the wine business as "a combination of stupidity and bad real estate decisions." Peter had worked in the wine business for years - in retail, wholesale, marketing, you name it - when he and his wine decided to move to the Bay Area for work during the height of the dot.com boom. They couldn't afford to buy a house anywhere near San Francisco and so started looking farther and farther north until they found themselves visiting properties that came... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 12, 2005 8:16 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (8) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Tulip Hill "Old Vines" Zinfandel, Lake County, California
I've been curious lately about some of the more fringe appellations of Northern California, such as Lake County. A lot of grapes are being grown there, but not a lot of wine shows up with Lake County as its appellation on the bottle. What does this mean? Mostly that juice from these grapes is being blended in with juice from more "fashionable" appellations by wineries big and small in quantities below the 20% level that would require them to disclose their origin. It's nice, then, to see winemakers like the folks at Tulip Hill making a wine that is 100%... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 8, 2005 11:09 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (1) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 Caves Plaimont "Colombelle" Blanc, Vin de Pays, Gascony, France
A few weeks ago I came across one of the best values in red wine I have encountered in a long time, and it seems this week I am bringing you its mate in the white wine category. What do I look for in a value white wine? Something that has enough complexity to warrant sipping on its own and something that pairs well with food. Caves Plaimont has managed to meet both of these criteria with a wine they call "Colombelle" which is a play on the primary varietal used in the wine, Colombard. For many, including myself, this... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 5, 2005 8:10 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (5) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
Spencer Roloson Winery: Current Releases
I first encountered the wines of Spencer Roloson at the Rhone Rangers tasting last March. At the time, I had their 2002 Viognier and thought it was one of the better interpretations of that varietal amidst a mostly lackluster showing. Their brightly colored labels with sans-serif type caught my eye at the time, and I recognized them at the Family winemakers tasting this fall, and spent some time tasting through their lineup and chatting with winemaker and co-owner Sam Spencer. Sam is one half of the ownership team of Spencer Roloson and the other half is Wendy Roloson. Sam brings... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 29, 2004 10:37 PM
- Filed under: Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2003 Azienda Agricola Trere "Sperone" Sangiovese, Emilia Romagna, Italy
Frequent readers will know that I'm a fan of Italian wines, in particular the muscular Sangiovese based reds of Montepulciano and Montalcino in Tuscany. I don't often find a lot of people who are a huge fan of this varietal in its Italian incarnation, as it tends to have dominant earthy and leathery flavors with heavy tannic structures that take years if not decades to mellow out. I break out an occasional Vino Nobile de Montepulciano and some folks edge their way to the end of the table that holds a Syrah or Cabernet, or something with more fruit. With... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 25, 2004 1:15 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (0) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Feudo Arancio Syrah, Sicily
This is it. I've discovered by far the best wine for under ten bucks I've ever had. You think Yellowtail Syrah is a good value? In a street fight, this scrappy Sicilian is going to send Australia packing. Fortunately for us they're probably going to stay far under the radar of most consumers. While it's made by a relatively large wine conglomerate in Italy, they've not yet figured out how to market wines to the US in the same way that the Australians can. Never you mind though. Just go out and buy some. Feudo Arancio is a new winery... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 23, 2004 10:46 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (13) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Altos de Medrano "Las Hormiga" Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina
A while ago, I posted some commentary on a few predictions made by Robert M. Parker, Jr. about the future of the global wine trade. One of my comments which generated a lot of conversation here at Vinography was my comment that while I understood Malbec's prominence as a varietal in Argentina, and its long history of use in Bordeaux, I had actually never had a Malbec that I really liked. Sure I'd had some that were powerful and clearly made with care, but most of them were over-oaked, very tannic, and wholly unbalanced. A number of readers agreed with... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 13, 2004 5:35 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (3) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Leeuwin "Art Series" Riesling, Margaret River, Australia
This is my entry for WBW4, the fourth installment of Wine Blogging Wednesday, which this month is being hosted by Derrick over at An Obsession With Food. Derrick is a huge fan of Alsace, Austrian and German wines and so it's no surprise that he selected Riesling as the theme for this month's virtual tasting event. That would have been fine with me, even exciting, but the bugger had to go one dastardly step further and tell us it had to be New World Riesling, ruling out the whole set of wines that he likes, and even worse, ensuring that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 1, 2004 4:41 AM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (6) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2003 William Fevre "Champs Royaux" Chablis (Chardonnay), Burgundy, France
It's wines like this one that make me begrudgingly admit that some of my friends have a pretty valid point. You see, I hang out with a bunch of folks who have completely sworn off of California white wines, especially Chardonnay, in favor of French whites -- in particular the Chardonnay based White Burgundies and Sauvignon Blanc based wines from the Loire. They clamor (at any given opportunity) that there are hundreds of wines that can be purchased for around twenty bucks that are infinitely better than most $20 California Chardonnays. Better tasting, better food pairing, and just all around... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 26, 2004 10:31 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (4) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2001 Two-Tone Farm Merlot, Napa
It's always a little icky to think that the wine you're drinking is just some marketer's idea of targeting a specific segment or niche in the marketplace. What happened to passionate people coaxing bottled poetry from the earth in the pursuit of something transcendent of mere grapes??? I mean, c'mon, isn't that where we all want our wines to come from? Well there are only so many of those types of wineries and wines, and the reality that's been beaten into everyone in the market these days is that its possible to make perfectly good wine, even excellent wine, under... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 25, 2004 8:57 AM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (2) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2001 Casa Vinicola Firriato "Chiaramonte" Nero D' Avola, Sicily
Sicily has been making wine for ages and ages, but it's getting a lot more attention these days as newer winemakers compete to get their wines a broader audience around the world and change their production methods to achieve higher quality. Firriato is a fairly new producer on the island. It was started in 1985 by Salvatore and Vinzia Di Gaetano in northwestern Sicily near Trapani. Things move slower in Sicily, I guess, as their first real production ended up being in 1994. Since their initial vintage, they have scaled their production levels to nearly 500,000 cases. That's a lot... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 24, 2004 9:07 AM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (0) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2001 R. Stuart & Co "Big Fire" Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
In case you hadn't noticed, Oregon Pinot Noir is hot right now. So hot, perhaps, that the folks at R. Stuart & Co. have called it "Big Fire." They could have also called it "Big Fun" and it would have fit within their brand image nicely. This quirky little winery operation/family/company is run by Rob Stuart, a veteran west coast winemaker who is now in his 21st vintage as a winemaker. His most recent stint was at Erath Vineyards but now he's focused on fulfilling his long time love of Pinot Noir by just making it for himself. Along the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 17, 2004 11:00 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (5) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
2003 Alice White Shiraz, South Eastern Australia
This is my entry for WBW3, the third Wine Blogging Wednesday event online, where folks who have blogs all drink and review wines on the same day. This month's event is being hosted by Seattle Bon Vivant, so visit with her in the next couple of days for a complete listing of all the participants. For last month's event, I drank a pricey, critically acclaimed, upper echelon wine. This month I'm doing the opposite. However, I was unable to get my (lazy) hands on a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz which is what I wanted to review. I know, I... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 3, 2004 8:55 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Not To Buy , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (15) - TrackBacks (1) - Permalink
Jim Neal Wines: Current Releases
I'm particularly excited to be able to introduce you to Jim Neal, a winemaker you probably have never heard of. As you know, one of my goals here at Vinography is to "discover" great new wines that we all want to drink. I use quotes around that word because I don't pretend to be the first person that has ever heard of these winemakers, some of whom have been making wine for years, but many are extremely small and below the radar of most wine consumers. Some, like Jim are even struggling to get their wines into retail shops and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 2, 2004 11:11 PM
- Filed under: Undiscovered Wines , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (24) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 Borsao "Primizia" Grenache, Campo De Borja, Spain
I like to keep it real here. The last couple of weeks has seen me drinking some pretty expensive stuff, to the point that people are sending me e-mails asking me for charitable donations. Not really. But the last thing I want this blog to become is a journal of great wines that most people can't afford. With that in mind I bring you probably the single best supermarket wine available in the States today and unarguably one of the best global wine values anywhere. I've been buying this stuff by the twos and threes in my local grocery store... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 29, 2004 8:45 AM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (5) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2001 Arrowood "Grand Archer" Chardonnay, Sonoma
Massive corporate wine property or small family run business? With Arrowood, you're looking at both. Started as a family affair in 1986 by Dick Arrowood, who spent years making wine at Chateau St. Jean, Arrowood Vineyards was a popular Sonoma Winery from the start. In 2000 it was purchased by the Mondavi Corporation in an effort to expand their portfolio of premium Sonoma wines, and with the impending breakup of the company, it looks like it's going to be on the market again. This may be good or bad news for Dick depending on how you look at it. He... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 15, 2004 6:11 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (1) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
NV Azienda Ag. Malvira "Birbet" Brachetto, Roero (Piemonte), Italy
Sparkling red wine? Sacre Bleu! Or in this case I guess you'd say Mizzica! or some other Italian equivalent. Yes, this really is a sparkling red wine and quite an interesting one at that. It's made by a small producer in Piemonte, Azienda Agricola Malvira. I love the name of the winery, which literally translates to "Situated Wrong," because the winery's original courtyard faced North instead of to the South as popular wisdom dictated it should. Even though the winery is in its new location along the banks of the Tanaro river in the small village of Canova, the name... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 14, 2004 3:52 PM
- Filed under: Dessert Wine , Wines under $20
- Comments (18) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 Jaffurs Viognier, Santa Barbara
I find myself drinking a lot of wines from Santa Barbara these days, partially because they're new to me, and also partially because they are affordable. But perhaps most of all, it seems that many of these winemakers are small, family operations that are guided by their own principles and vision for winemaking and are not simply making what has come to be stereotypical California wine. Jaffurs Wine Cellars is a classic example of these principles at work. Owner/Winemaker Craig Jaffurs started his operation in 1994 with a singular purpose, to take what he saw as a particular microclimate (Santa... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 13, 2004 10:56 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (0) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2003 Domaine Bru Bache Jurancon Sec, Jurancon, France
I was first introduced to Jurancon through a dessert wine poured in a local French bistro here in San Francisco. "Here, try this," said our waiter and whipped out a few glasses which he filled with a nearly colorless wine with a simple parchment colored label. "Henry the Fourth was baptized in this stuff" he said as he wandered off. We thought, "did we hear him right?" but sure enough, that is the claim to fame of this tiny little appellation in the south-eastern part of Provence in southern France. It also happens to be one of France's oldest appellations.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 3, 2004 6:04 PM
- Filed under: White Wine , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
- Comments (5) - TrackBacks (0) - Permalink
2002 Saintsbury Chardonnay, Carneros
I was first introduced to Saintsbury wines through their Garnet Pinot Noir, which is a Carneros pinot made in a lighter style with less oak and more fruit, and a really nice wine for buying by the truckload and drinking every day. Saintsbury is one of the moderately large commercial producers in Napa that in my opinion is still maintaining high levels of quality and boutique style winemaking processes. They pretty much abjure filtering and they are not afraid of making wine in time