Special Wines of All Kinds Part Two
As promised, I’m continuing to work through some of the higher-end, interesting, or special occasion samples that I’ve had the opportunity to taste. Today it’s a concentration of sample wines from California. Sparkling 2019 Sonoma Cutrer Grand Brut Rosé – This blend of 70 percent Pinot […]
More Sample Highlights: Making Progress
Do you guys hear the sound of progress? It’s me having published three samples columns since the holidays and I’m happy that I’m really making some progress of tasting these wines and am still able to tell some great stories along the way. Today we talk about more samples that […]
Tackling Samples – The March Continues
The march on tackling samples continues and today I’m focused on wines that stood out from the pack. Some of these are Tuesday night pizza wines, some weekend sipping wines, and some are special occasion. Here are my notables: Sparkling/Champagne Domaine Bousquet NV […]
Rediscover Merlot: The Turning Point
For more than 200 years, Merlot has been a foundational grape in the wine world – from Bordeaux to California – used to make some of the finest wines. The Merlot grape, which translates to blackbird in French, became the most planted grape in Bordeaux and known for its soft, elegant […]
Grit, Grace and Guts: Story of Cheramie Wine
Meeting Cheramie Law and Todd Aho of Cheramie Wines, a Salt and Pepper Wine company, is an experience that stays with you. These are two individuals that exude authenticity, passion, kindness and appear to be the perfect yin and yang combination in a marriage. While they were destined to be in […]
Brian Carter Cellars: Combining Art and Science
The love affair with wine started early – Brian Carter was 14-years-old and he asked his mom if he could make wine out of blackberries. It started out as science focused, and over 40 years later evolved into an art making him one of the first to focus exclusively on blended […]
Second Half 2020 Sample Roundup
It’s sample time and I never knew what a challenge these would be in the time of COVID. Usually, I invite friends over and pop open a few bottles, and, if my husband is in a cooking mode, then I get to use my pairing skills. When the pandemic happened, the samples […]
Stop Giving Merlot the Side Eye
Stop Giving Merlot the Side Eye A Trip to Ehlers Estate Many Years Ago I’m not going to mention that movie. The one that maligned an entire varietal of wine. Granted, it was time for a wake-up call as many Merlots stopped being great due to over planting, but a 2 percent drop […]
Bibiana Gonzalez Rave and Jeff Pisoni: Power Couple in Wine
Bibiana Gonzalez Rave and Jeff Pisoni, Courtesy of Alma de Cattleya Bibiana Gonzalez Rave and Jeff Pisoni, the winemakers for Alma de Cattleya and Lucia Vineyards, are examples of a true power couple in wine. These two have been married since 2011 and talked about how they are dedicated to helping the other make better wine. […]
Ushering out the Decade with Stellar Holiday Samples
It’s crazy that 2019 has passed in a flash and a new year/decade has begun. Why not usher in a new decade with a round-up article of a few favorite samples over the holidays? Due to the weather, there is always a rush of samples shipped when the weather breaks in Texas, so it’s […]
Six Months of Wine Samples: A Summation of My Favorites
Six Months of Wine Samples: A Summation of My Favorites It’s sample write-up time again and I held off longer than I usually do for my write-up because I had a lot of wines to try. Some I’m going to write about today, which were diverse, interesting and worth your exploration. Some fell flat, in […]
Sample Review: Wines Where I Wish I Didn’t Follow the Golden Rule
It’s time for my quarterly sample posting and following tradition, there are several wines that merit a separate column prior to the larger post. These are the wines that I shared with friends and neighbors where I found myself wishing I had used a Coravin or perhaps allocated an extra glass for myself. These are the […]
Samples that Inspire a Rallying Cry Moment
As a wine blogger, I get a lot of samples and I am very grateful to have the chance to try the amount of samples I do. But occasionally, there are wines that when I open the box I drop my “professionalism” and I am sure you might hear an involuntarily “whoo hoo” rallying […]