Category: California

Cool Wine Country: Santa Lucia Highlands

Posted by Tom Gable | Feb 28, 2017 | California, Discoveries | 0

Syrah Smackdown: Appreciating a Sense of Place and Personality

by Tom Gable | Nov 29, 2019 | Australia, California, Discoveries, France, Rhone, Washington | 0

The annual SommCon® conference provides sommelier-level education and training of wine...

Sauvignon Blanc Finds, $10 to $39

by Tom Gable | Sep 29, 2019 | California, New Zealand, Uncategorized, Values | 0

The following emerged as the best values, or offering fine style for a higher price, in tasting some 50 Sauvignon Blanc wines over the past three months. Wines were purchased from online flash sale merchants, big box stores and...

Big Reds: BBQ, Picnic and Party Wines from $12 to $32

by Tom Gable | Aug 31, 2019 | Australia, California, Discoveries, Uncategorized, Values, Washington | 0

With many outdoor events scheduled as we headed into the Labor Day weekend, we sorted through notes on bigger wines we’ve enjoyed with barbecue, picnic and party fare. Here are 12 favorites. The selections include wines made...

Exploring New Worlds of Pinot Noir: California, Oregon, Chile, New Zealand

by Tom Gable | May 31, 2019 | California, Chile, New Zealand, Oregon | 0

A global array of winemakers, owners, merchants, distributors and educators convene each March for the annual World of Pinot Noir (WOPN) event at the Ritz Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara, to be joined by gaggles of wine geeks...

32 Wines Under $23 for Spring Sipping, Picnic and Party Fun

by Tom Gable | Apr 30, 2019 | Argentina, Australia, Bordeaux, California, France, New Zealand, Oregon, Rhone, Values, Washington | 0

The following wines rise to the top in price and value from among several hundred wines tasted over the past few months, from individual bottles with food at home to sampling through scores at trade tastings and industry...

Lodi – the Motherlode of Affordable California Wines

by Tom Gable | Mar 28, 2019 | California, Discoveries, Values | 0

Randy Caparoso, wine journalist, wine country photographer and columnist for The SOMM Journal, led...

Single Blind Tasting – Fun Exercise in Improving Wine Appreciation

by Tom Gable | Jan 31, 2019 | Argentina, Australia, California, France, New Zealand, Spain | 0

Can a single blind tasting be of value to wine drinkers seeking to learn more techniques for identifying the similarities and differences in wines, while honing their individual palates and sensitivities? The answer is yes,...

From Barbera to Zinfandel, Finding Values in Old and New World Red Wines

by Tom Gable | Nov 4, 2018 | Argentina, Australia, California, Discoveries, France, New Zealand, Oregon, Spain | 0

Recent tastings – foreign and domestic, remotely or in person — led us to wine discoveries from the Sonoma Coast, to the mountains of Argentina, sunny slopes of Rioja and emerging vineyards in Central Otago, New Zealand....