Category: France
Memorable Chardonnay Wines from 2022
The top 20 include nine from California and eleven from Burgundy. On the former, I’ve been a fan of Stony Hill of Napa and Hanzell of Sonoma for some 40 years. I prefer more classic styles, which these small producers...
Read MoreTop 20 Reds Tasted During 2022
The news media and various entertainment, search engine and research websites are currently featuring their “Best of 2022” lists, with occasional predictions for 2023. In the spirit of sharing, here are my Top 20 Red Wines...
Read MoreSo Many Wines, So Little Time
Readers often ask where I get my wines, particularly after posting tasting notes on some great values from around the world. Start with the big box stores (e.g., Costco) and local wine merchants. For expanding my horizons and to...
Read MoreFun summer sipping with Rosés and white Rhone varietals
After tasting through an ever-broadening array of Rosé wines over the past two months, we were pleased to find several excellent values, including some with depth and style. Our favorites were mostly from Cotes de Provence and...
Read MoreAdventures in Viognier
Enjoyed a recent blind tasting of Viognier with the Carmel Valley Wine Club, San Diego, tasting No. 306 over 32 years. Previously done in person, now on Zoom, which has reduced the banter and camaraderie but improved tallying...
Read MoreFavorites from 2021 — Classics and Values
It’s always memorable to go through our tasting notes for the year. We recorded the notes during a wide range of tasting experiences, from trying new wines at home, to dinner parties with friends, to trade tastings, industry...
Read More15 Bigger Red Wines Under $20
The following notes are from tastings the past four months with a focus on wines scoring above 14.5 on the UC Davis scale (87 other scales) and costing less than $20. The range starts at $9. We added one at $24 for the big...
Read MoreExploring New World Pinot Noir, $12 to $88
The following notes are from Pinot Noir wines tasted from the New World over the past six months and rated as good, very good and excellent. For background on Pinot Noir in the New World, versus its home in Burgundy, France,...
Read MoreGood Values Along the White Wine Roads Less Traveled
With abundant supplies of fine value Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc wines currently available from all over the world, it is easy to go with those whites as the default choice for summer sipping. For a little exploration, here...
Read MoreEasy Sipping Spring and Summer White Wines
With warmer weather in the offing and restrictions easing on getting together in crowds of more than four and spaced at two-meter intervals, it’s time to explore lower-cost, tasty wines to have handy for any group gathering or...
Read MoreWhite, Red Wine Values for Continued Hunkering in 2021
Some celebrants usher in the New Year with a little bubbly and an expensive vintage wine or two. Based on requests from some friends for lower cost wines to get through the first quarter of 2021 under a pandemic budget, we took...
Read MoreIn Search of Good Red Wine Blends — Traditional to Creative
One strategy for calibrating your palate is to taste wines made from the same varietal grape and decide on styles you like. This is best done blind, where a co-conspirator buys the wines and another puts them in numbered brown...
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