A nice example of an Oregon Pinot Noir, this baby from A To Z Wineworks is a bright brick color in your glass, cherry covered raspberry pie on a sniff and tart cherry on first sip. The tartness mellows to a complex symphony of everything berries: strawberry, raspberry and blackberry – that really stick with…
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Named for the Apotheca – where then-pharmacists known as apothecaries not only dispensed tobacco and medicine but also blended and stored wine, Apothic is one of the butt-load of labels owned by the largest family-owned wine company in the world E & J Gallo. This puts the virtual winery Apothic (owning no vineyards or wineries)…
Read More2011 was a great vintage for Sauvignon Blanc in California, and Joel “Gott” some of the best. Gott’s winemaker Alisa Jacobson (Korbel, Phelps) blends grapes from Monterey – rich, tropical floral fruit – with Lake County‘s citrus-note fruit and Russian River Valley’s mineral-note fruit, and ferments and ages it unadulterated in 100% stainless. She even…
Read MoreThe Jean Marc Lafage côté EST Catalan 2011 is a very nice vin de pays (French country wine) white blend that’s very light yellow in your glass. It has a nose that reminds you of of those sugary orange slices you’d get with your grandma at the candy store! So you prepare yourself to take…
Read MoreThe Epica Sauvignon Blanc 2011 is an immensely refreshing Sauv Blanc from Chile’s Valle Central (Central Valley) from Viña San Pedro, one of Chile’s most prolific suppliers. These guys won the award in 2011 for Wine Enthusiast’s Best New World Winery. Rightfully so – they make some freakishly good wines over there that you’ve probably…
Read MoreThe 2011 Attems Pinot Grigio is sourced from vineyards in the Collio Goriziano area of Venezia Giulia in Italy. Venezia Giulia is in the Northeast corner of Italy, near the Alps and the area is a mix of German, Slovakian and Italian influences. This is an IGT designated wine, which is similar to Vin de Pays…
Read MoreThe 2008 Castle Rock Napa Valley Merlot is sourced from several Napa Valley vineyards. Castle Rock has an interesting approach to producing wine, they do not own their own vineyards, but have long term contracts with vineyards all over California, Oregon and Washington. The don’t produce just one Merlot, but 3 Merlot’s from Napa, Mendocino…
Read MoreWe loved Airfield Estates’ The Bombshell Red – she was truly luscious. And their winery sounds like a blast to visit – it used to be a WWII airfield, and they built the winery to resemble the hangars that used to be there – complete with faux hangar doors and an airfield tower which houses…
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The 2011 J W Morris Gewurztraminer is a $3.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive. J W Morris is one of Bronco Wines (2 Buck Chuck) multitude of wine labels. Bronco Wines is very focused on keeping production costs down so there is rarely any promotional material available on the making of their wines. I will say this…
Read MoreWhat did you do this weekend? I attended the 9th Annual Naperville Wine Festival and while I drank some wine, listened to some music, ate some food and met and talked to a bunch of fellow winos, I was doing so for charity – the Naperville Area Humane Society. For the first time in its…
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