‘ Lucky is he who has been able to understand the causes of things .’ Virgil 70-19BC. Lucky indeed are the people who are able to blend wonderful wines. The Bordelaise have been doing it for quite some time, with their wines constructed based on geography; left bank based on Cabernet Sauvignon with flavours dominated by blackcurrant and the right bank based on Merlot with a more fruitcakey...
PATERSON, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wine Spectator magazine, one of the most influential wine publications in the world, has named the Columbia Crest 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon as the editors’ pick for the No. 1 Wine in the World for 2009. Equally noteworthy is that Columbia Crest is the first wine produced in Washington state to fill the top spot in Wine Spectator’s annual Top 100 wines...
As I write this my turkey is thawing (Saturday prior to the big feast) and I will certainly brine my bird and then fantasize about all the wonderful wines--both reds and whites, bold ones and more finessed ones which will be served up during the multi-course celebration. As you will find when reading (NW's) post from a previous year, whatever you do, don't think, "Turkey= poultry= white wine."...
The title reminded me of this 60's classic....back when people could sing and there was a melody! Los Bravos. The Luckerts believe in tradition...but they don't belong to the Franken Wine Authority...they choose their own way...and that is shown by this wine. Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot...not the norm for this area... Weingut Zehnthof Luckert Grand Noir *** Tafelwein 2005 Franken, Germany I suppose...
Cabernet sauvignon—and particularly the cabernet produced in California's Napa Valley—is the signature American wine. When a Napa cab, the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, beat out some leading French wines in the Judgment of Paris, it heralded the coming-of-age of American viticulture and gave the phrase Napa cabernet international cachet. Nowadays, however, that phrase is more apt to elicit...
Now that Wine Spectator has finished dragging out the reveal of its Top 100 Wines of 2009 -- a 2005 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon was ranked No. 1 -- over a yawn-inducing three days, we have to ask: Are wine ratings...
This year’s Taste the Season event in Niagara-on-the-Lake was like all the others: each winery puts forth a food and wine pairing for passport holders; its’a winning formula that has been working for years, so why screw with it. Taste the Season is by far my favourite event, matched only by the Wine & Herb Festival and, the more recently introduced, Days of Wine & Chocolate, also...
Before I kick off this review of the most recent Argentina tasting to be held in Toronto, I thought I would offer a few words of advice to those wineries “seeking representation” here in Ontario: Stop talking to your buddy, get off the phone and pay attention to who’s in front of you. There were 5 wineries from this South American country who were listed as ‘seeking’ and...
This was the 14th bottling of Vintage Reserve since the inaugural vintage of 1977. The wine is a blend of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 15% Petit Verdot, and 10% Malbec. The grapes were hand harvested from select estate blocks in the Santa Ynez Valley. After destemming and light crushing, each lot was inoculated with a slow fermenting yeast for balanced extraction. Extended...
The Wine Whore - A Blog that Works for Wine! (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
My first blind date was a huge success! I have to admit, expanding my palate through foreign grapes is actually a lot of fun. There's just something about the excitement of trying something different than your everyday goto grapes and discovering a new favorite that makes it all worthwhile. Hailing from the same birthplace as Riedel glassware and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, my first...
For the first time in history, a Washington state wine — Columbia Crest 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon — has been named the “No. 1 Wine in the World” by a prestigious wine publication.
Reminder that this month's Virtual Tasting will take place on Monday November 23rd. Read about it here . Desert Wind Winery is located in Prosser, Washington. Visible from Highway 82, the winery was established in 2001 by the Fries and Jenkins families. Built at a cost of $3.5 million, Desert Wind’s facilities are grand by Washington standards with a Southwest-inspired tasting room, a banquet...
I was fortunate enough to be able to take part in a Twitter Taste Live wine tasting on Saturday, November 14. I must confess - a few confessions here. A few years ago I spent 10 days in Central California. On our drive down from the San Jose Airport to Avila Beach, Hahn was the first tasting room we stopped at. We new nothing about their wines then, but saw a sign and pulled off Highway 101 and began...
Spinner : The first three products will be Rolling Stones ‘Forty Licks Merlot,’ ‘Woodstock Chardonnay’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon Cabernet Sauvignon.’ These wines, which will retail for around $17 a pop, were previewed backstage at the VIP & Artists lounges during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts in New York last month. “Traditionally...
Last Sunday, we assembled at the Jahnke's for our November wine salon. Food was delicious and we tasted through a bunch of Australian wines. As you read my notes, please bear in mind that I have generally abdicated the idea of drinking Aussie wines, so some of the wines served were a real revelation while others were huge disappointments. Interestingly enough, we started off with a Tasmanian Sparkler...
Videos
