Anyone who knows me is aware I am a fan of oaky white wines. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that at a recent lunch I was invited to I fell hard for the Hess Collection Chardonnay (2016). Hess Collection Chardonnay 2016 Joining a small group of scribes at this meal was Nicole Carter, the [More]
I just went down an internet rabbit hole reliving the Pepsi Challenge ad campaign of the late 1970s and early 80s. It was a blind taste test of a small cup of Coke and one of Pepsi. The latter did surprisingly well. So well, that Coke ended up coming out with the infamous “New Coke” [More]
It was my birthday and you know I was going to drink something sparkling so I headed to see my Seattle pal (we worked together at Bottlehouse for years) Carson at Scampi. He started me off with a glass of Murgo Brut Rosé (2015). First let me begin by saying the wine list at Scampi [More]
Pétillant-Naturel wines, charmingly shortened to Pét-Nat, are some of the most fun wines out there. The (ancestral) method to its madness is that the wine is bottled (usually with a crown cap, like a beer) while still fermenting. Carbon dioxide, one of the byproducts of fermentation, gets trapped in the bottle. The resulting wine is a [More]
One of my all-time favorite red wines is Loire Cabernet Franc. Well-aged, on the powerful side, or named for “drunken nights,” its savory freshness makes me swoon. You can also find great deals on Loire Cabernet Franc made in a manner to drink right away. I (re)discovered this at a recent Loire Valley wine tasting. Cave [More]
I am so guilty of excessively using exclamation points. If you read the “About Me” section of this very blog, I even confess/brag about it. I refer to my predilection as deploying an “overabundance” of them. A quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald has stuck with me: “An exclamation point is like laughing at your own [More]
I am a huge fan of Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley. Many bottles are in my Hall of Fame, including one that’s probably in my Top Ten reds, ever. It’s a rising star on another continent, in a different guise, and what might seem a surprising state. Yes, Washington. Enter the Seven Hills Winery Rosé. [More]
One of the many nice things about going to free tastings at wine shops is getting to try something you normally might not come across. Like a Bordeaux with a ubiquitous, old-school label on it. Enter the Chateau Cantelaudette. It was being poured at Dandelion Wine and I ended up taking a bottle home. Why? 2014 [More]
