Pinot Noir
With cool, wet winters, warm dry summers and the marine influence from the west, the coastal Willamette Valley of Oregon is perfect for growing pinot noir grapes.
Dr. Loosen’s Oregon Wine Adventure
The Loosen Family wine estate in Germany is famous for it’s rieslings. Closer to home, Ernst Loosen – one of the rock stars of [...]
Paso Robles
“There is no question that a decade from now, the top viticulture areas of Santa Barbara, Santa Rita Hills and the limestone hillsides west of Paso Robles will be as well-known as the glamorous vineyards of Napa Valley.”
—– Robert M. Parker, Jr. June 30, 2005 issue of Wine Advocate
El Paso de Robles – [...]
2005 Celler de Capcanes “Mas Donis” Barrica Montsant
Wine from old vines grapes grown on volcanic slopes in north eastern Spain. The life span of a grape vine is about 120 years, and the Granache and Syrah used in this wine come from vines that are over 80 years old and over 30 years old, respectively. [...]
Merlot
Merlot is back! For the past decade the step sister to Cabernet Sauvignon has been pushed to the back burner by the big, beefy California Cabs – but no more. Merlot has been brought to the forefront with the help of some great Washington wine makers and the perfect fruit grown in the Columbia Valley. [...]
2007 Domaine Lafond Roc Epine Lirac
As Twisting Vines has previously noted, 2007 was a great year for Rhone wines. The three grapes that go into the region’s famous Châteauneuf du Pape are Grenache, Mourvédre, Syrah.
The Domaine Lafond produced a terrific Châteauneuf du Pape that received 91 points from Robert Parker. Although the wine has come [...]
Bev Mo’s Wilfred Wong
When you walk down the wine isles of Beverages and More, you can’t help but notice the majority of wines are rated by Wilfred Wong. On my first visit to the local store, I wondered: Is this a real guy? What does he know about wine, anyway?
Wilfred is a real person who [...]
Bodegas Juan Gil Monastrell 2007
A tasty red wine made from hand-harvested 100% Monastrell grapes. We call it Mourvedre. Purple in color. Dark fruit aromas with a hint of toasted oak and leather. Good balance of fruit and tannins make it easy to drink from the minute it’s poured. Because of the dark, thick skin it [...]
Tastings
Dorothy Gaiter and John Brescher have been the wine columnists for The Wall Street Journal for 12 years. I always enjoyed the Friday edition of the Journal – one of those reasons was Tastings. When the Journal started putting Tastings videos up several years back, it was fun to watch the two share their enjoyment [...]
Time to Stock Up on Champagne
According to the New York Times wine critic, Eric Asimov, there are now some pretty good Champagnes in the $30 to $40 range. A panel of experts, including Asimov, set up blind tasting of 20 Champagnes under $40 and found some seriously good wine. This is quite a change from [...]
