I have been really impressed with Spanish white wines; they are cheap and refreshing. Just drank a 2003 Rueda Blanco by Basa. It had a very tangy, almost candy apple (or Jolly Rancher) initial taste, then a surprisingly rich and mouthfilling finish (though not long lasting). It was great with some salmon I had with [More]

Don’t be Sarr-y, get the Van Volxem.  Although J.J Christoffel Erben is a great producer, the real start of yesterday’s Rielsing shoot-out was the Van Volxem. This was one of the most impressive white wines I have drank in a long time. Crazy, shimmering acidity, followed by a hint of sweetness, then more acidity. Delicate [More]

Last night I drank a very cheap, very big, fruity, tannic wine from the Costieres de Nimes. It’s not a well-known region, but like the rest of the Languedoc, its catching up because the land is cheap(er) then say, the Rhone or Burgundy. What surprised me about this wine is that it is 100% syrah…usually [More]

Woo-hoo! I just was checking to see if anybody has links to le wine blog on their site and it turns out three Frenchies do: http://altaide.typepad.com/jacques_froissant_altade/2004/12/conseils_aux_ca.htmlhttp://www.u-blog.net/eldrakan/note/56469http://winemarketing.blogs.com/about.html Boring for you, thrilling for me. I will be posting some photos from France, now that I have an easy way to load them up. I have some awful [More]

I love fermented grape juice. 

If you are wondering what a wine geek would want or get for Valentine’s Day, here are some thoughts. *Champers, Champers, Champers. Instead of a regular bottle, go big and get a magnum. *Old wine. As in a great wine from a great vintage. It is truly a special treat to drink a great wine [More]

On a little binge last night I,uh, “tasted” a couple of extraordinary wines, especially for the price. The first was my beloved Chablis (2002) made by Gerard Tremblay at Domaine Des Iles. Reviewing my last post on the Drouhin 2003 Chablis, this blows it away. Better producer, better year, and no oak. This had the [More]

Some of the best bottles I have had from Burgundy have been by negociants: Nicholas Potel (of course), Latour, and Drouhin. The nice thing about these producers, especially Latour and Drouhin, is that you can find their wine at any halfway decent grocery store. I just was able to try the 2003 Joseph Drouhin Chablis [More]