You and the Wine and the Tariffs 16 Apr 2:25 PM (yesterday, 2:25 pm)
We seem to be in a spiral of trade threats and tariff intimidations that expands and contacts daily as Donald Trump, president of the United States, changes his mind about percentages and timeframes, and targeted countries retaliate.
Wine of the Day, No. 867 14 Apr 8:23 AM (3 days ago)
The Mother Block Red Blend 2022, was produced by the Chalmers Family, long a mainstay of vine-growing and winemaking in Australia’s Victoria region. The blend referred to is a unique combination of grapes that represent many parts of Italy — 62% sagrantino, 17% nero d’Avola, 7% aglianico, 6% sangiovese, 5% uva di Troia, 2% teroldego and 1% piedirosso, all sustainably farmed. Chalmers is noted for its commitment to the propagation of Italian grape varieties, maintaining a nursery of 40 types of Italian vines, many in clonal variations.
This one is bright ruby-purple in hue, with notes of sour cherry, plums, apple skin and freshly grated black pepper; a few moments in the glass add hints of graphite, lavender and melon; the wine is sleek, lithe and supple on the palate, propelled by a high pitch of clean acidity and structured with mildly gripping tannins; the flavors are slightly roasted black and red fruit, accented by touches of baking spices and a finish of mint and sage. 13.6% alcohol. Suitable for vegans. Very tasty and pretty darned perfect as a pizza and burger wine. Very Good+. About $18, representing a Real Bargain.
Legend Imports, Nashville, Tennessee. A sample for review.
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A Selection from Donum Estate's Extensive Portfolio 12 Apr 9:37 AM (5 days ago)
The Donum Estate originated in 2001, when Allan and Mei Warburg purchased 170 acres in Carneros that had belonged to the venerable Buena Vista Winery. Anne Moller-Racke, whose family business had sold Buena Vista Winery to Allied Domecq, stayed on as president and “winegrower” — a term I place within quotation marks because it makes no sense: Vines grow; wine is made. After developing the estate and its vineyards and overseeing the construction of the winery facility, Moller-Racke left Donum Estate in 2019 to focus on her own property, Blue Farm.
Three Reds from Dr. Konstantin Frank 8 Apr 12:05 PM (9 days ago)
Dr. Konstantin Frank died in 1985, at the age of 86. The winery he founded in 1958 in New York’s Finger Lake region and that carries his name is today in the fourth generation and is headed by Konstantin Frank’s great-granddaughter, Meaghan Frank. The family owns 160 acres of vines located near Seneca Lake and Keuka Lake. They produce a wide variety of white and red wines, as well as sparkling wines made in the Champagne method. Today, we look at three of those red wines, a Cabernet Franc from 2021 and a Blaufränkisch and Saperavi from 2022. I’m pretty certain that in almost 41 years writing about wine, this is the first occasion on which I have mentioned the saperavi grape, native to the country of Georgia.
Wine of the Day, No. 856 1 Apr 12:58 PM (16 days ago)
If your yen is toward plush, fruit-filled cabernet sauvignon wines, then the Darom Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, from Isreal’s Judea region, is the one for you.
Packed with sumptuous, spiced-up black and blue fruit scents and flavors, this wine — a blend of 85% cabernet sauvignon, 10% petite sirah and 5% syrah — features a deep black-purple hue, flush with m…
Red and White from the Douro Valley 24 Mar 9:44 AM (24 days ago)
It’s too bad that in the world of wine and wine consumption, the well-made and enjoyable products that cost $15 — as they two do — don’t get the attention they deserve. This pair is produced by Dow, one of the Port houses owned by the Symington family and made from vineyards owned by them. These are table wines, as they say, as opposed to the various types and styles of Porto fortified wines, you know, the famous Ports sipped after dinner by English gentlemen in tuxedos who delve into cellars going back decades. Ha-ha, that’s a way outmoded image nowadays, especially since the beginning of the decline in sales of vintage Port in the 1980s and ‘90s. A good reason for the Port houses and the families that manage them to branch out into the production of table wines.
Weekend Wine Notes: A Case of Affordable Pinot Noirs 21 Mar 7:51 AM (27 days ago)
I take great pleasure in offering My Readers this roster of 12 pinot noir wines available at reasonable prices. Well-made, moderately priced pinot isn’t typically easy to find. We have examples today from California, one from Oregon, four from France and one from Germany. No technical, historical or geographical data; just quick reviews, ripped, as it were, from the pages of my notebook. Each of these wines represents good or even excellent value. Enjoy — in sensible amounts, of course.
Wine of the Day, No. 855 17 Mar 10:43 AM (last month)
The Rocca delle Macìe Chianti Classico 2022, from Italy’s Toscana region, is not only kosher but suitable for vegans.
A blend of 95% sangiovese grapes and 5% merlot, this classically detailed wine displays a medium ruby-garnet hue with an ethereal rim; aromas of red cherries, both ripe and dried, mingle with notes of dried orange rind, oolong tea, rose …
R.I.P Newton Vineyard 15 Mar 9:44 AM (last month)
The devastation from the Glass fire, which burned in Napa and Sonoma counties in September and October 2020, included the Newton Vineyard, a well-known producer of primarily chardonnay, merlot and cabernet sauvignon wines. The winery announced on February 13, this year, that because of the extensive and encompassing damage, it would not re-open.
Palate, Palette, Pallet -- Let's Get It Straight, People 14 Mar 11:21 AM (last month)
The homonyms — words that sound the same but are spelled differently — palate, palette and pallet are often confused, even by writers in the industries for which the concepts are important.
Smith-Madrone -- Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 13 Mar 11:19 AM (last month)
Brothers Stu and Charlie Smith planted their cabernet sauvignon vines in 1972, high atop Spring Mountain, 1,900 feet above Napa Valley and west of the town of St. Helena. They dry-farm — that means no irrigation — the 38 acres of vines that grow out of the volcano-based rocky soil; the hillsides are so steep that some areas slope at a perilous 35 degree pitch. The Smiths produce mainly cabernet sauvignon wines, with lesser amounts of riesling and chardonnay and a recently added rosé, and they don't make too damned much of any of it, to the regret of their fans, of whom I am one, as you may remember from previous reviews.
Surrau of Sardinia -- 2 Whites and 2 Reds 11 Mar 1:12 PM (last month)
After generations of his family had cultivated vines in Sardinia, Tino Demuro launched a winery in 2001. Of the 149 acres of sustainably farmed vineyards, 70 percent are devoted to the white vermentino grape. Winemaker is Mariolino Siddi. The winery facility is pictured below/
Wine of the Day, No. 854 7 Mar 8:33 AM (last month)
American consumers need to be aware of and develop a taste for the wines of France’s Savoie region. This is an Alpine area, in far eastern France, where native grapes and a few imports like chardonnay and pinot noir, are grown in steep vineyards at high elevations. I write about these wines as often as I can, considering that they’re not always easy to …
Anaba Wines -- Picpoul Blanc '23, Pinot Noir '21 5 Mar 12:12 PM (last month)
Anaba Wines was founded in 2005 by John Sweazey, who named the winery for the anabatic or upslope winds that characterize the western Carneros region. Though he worked in commercial real estate in San Francisco, Sweazey constantly traveled to Europe, where his sojourns among great vineyards and wineries inspired his desire to own his own winery and produce his own wines. These center on a range of fairly costly single-vineyard chardonnays and pinot noirs but include entry-level wines as well.
Wine-Making and Music-Making 3 Mar 8:05 AM (last month)
Thursday in The New York Times, James R. Oestreich, reviewing a performance of Mozart's "Jupiter" Symphony by the Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Ivan Fischer, wrote, "The orchestra played well, with a full-bodied sound and yet a transparency that helped clarify lines in the occasionally dense counterpoint."
Wine of the Day, No. 853 28 Feb 12:11 PM (last month)
Hobo Wine Co., based in Santa Rosa, California, produces wines under six labels and imports a few wines from France and Germany. Our Wine of the Day, No. 853, is a white wine blend will certainly put you in the mood for Spring and Summer.
The Folk Machine White Light 2024 — and you can’t get much fresher than that — carries a broad California designatio…
Chillable Australian Reds and Tasty Whites to Transition from Winter to Spring 26 Feb 7:54 AM (last month)
Last week, our neck o’ the woods had temperatures as low as 9 or 10 degrees as night. This afternoon, it’s going up to 75. For some delicious wines to bridge the transition between really frigid and delightfully balmy, try these six examples from Australia, two wines, a white and a red each, from three wineries: Small Victories Wine Co., a label from the well-known Elderton Wines (Adelaide Hills); Spinifex Wines (Barossa Valley); and the Headcase line from Vinden Estate Vineyards (Hunter Valley).
What's So Fine about Fine Wine Anyway? 21 Feb 11:12 AM (last month)
Dear Readers — This column originally ran in BTYH on July 13, 2010. I reproduce it here because, while some of the issues it mentions no longer produce strident arguments — “natural wine,” here’s looking at you — the basic premise remains cogent: Too much emphasis rests on the production, marketing and sale of high-end, prestigious wines to the neglect of everyday wines that people can enjoy a glass or two of with dinner. That premise itself is now called into question by the increasing anti-alcohol and neo-prohibition movements gaining headway not only in this country but globally, as well as a general turning away from alcoholic beverages by people under 30 years old. Wine is in trouble, and the wine industry in American has traditionally done little to sway the tide of elite standards and the image of the luxurious “wine country lifestyle.” The ship needs to be turned around, though sometimes it seems as if no captain, courageous or otherwise, stands at the helm.
Tenuta Scerscé -- A Vision for Nebbiolo 19 Feb 11:51 AM (last month)
Cristina Scarpellini (image above) founded Tenuta Scerscé in 2008, on a one-acre plot of vines in Valtellina, a tiny alpine region in the northwestern reaches of Lombardy, just south of the Swiss border. Scarpellini soon gave up her job as an international lawyer and took on the fulltime task of expanding her property — now 17.5 acres — and producing wine from the nebbiolo grape, called chiavennasca locally. This area of steep, tiny vineyards and stone walls in Italy’s only east-west running valley was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.
Reviewing -- How It Works 17 Feb 12:28 PM (last month)
When I started writing about wine for The Commercial Appeal newspaper in July 1984 and for several months after, all the wines I reviewed were bought by me. It never occurred to me that there was any other method. I was still teaching then and freelancing for the newspaper.