Blog Archives

Traveling 54 Years in One Evening with Two Wines

A duo of bottles serving as bookends to a media event sponsored by Barton & Guestier  practically told the story of French wine, how the industry has developed, and how tastes have evolved. Yep, over five decades of change distilled (fermented, rather) into one short, yet memorable, evening. Let’s start from the end, which is [More]

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Drink More White Bordeaux (Please)

I gotta take my own dang advice. I’m complicit, too, in spacing on these killer wines. How long has it been since I had a back-to-back salvo of white Bordeaux? It’s tough enough to get anyone to drink red BDX let alone white. One of my all-time favorite wines happens to be a white BDX: [More]

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Chateau Cantelaudette Bordeaux is a Merlot Showcase

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]

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Loving the Clos du Val Napa Valley Merlot

Seeing “Napa Valley Merlot” on a wine label may cause some snap judgements, but Clos du Val is making (and has been making) one of my favorite expressions of this grape. And not just a favorite Napa Valley Merlot, but a favorite Merlot, period. What are the myths about Merlot? Bland and boring. And what [More]

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French Rosé in Winter

Ah, nothing like being on the patio in the summer sun, enjoying a fine French Rosé. But it’s the middle of winter. Should you banish all thoughts of drinking these delightfully dry wines until the temperature rises to sweat-inducing levels? Never! If pork, turkey, chicken, seafood, and/or vegetables recently graced your table, odds are that [More]

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Cheap-n-Tasty Bordeaux

Cheap-n-Tasty Bordeaux Originally uploaded by jamesonf Yes, from the 2009 vintage! From the heavily-hyped, purportedly greatest vintage in the history of Bordeaux. Well, at least since 2005. And 2003. And 2000. (Is the snark palpable?) And it’s about 1/100th the price of the fancy-pants first growths. I have no idea what the blend is but [More]

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