Time to get your drink on, people! My new book, Wine Taster’s Guide: Drink and Learn with 30 Wine Tastings, has as of this week (specifically, July 21, 2020) been officially released. 30 is a lot of tastings, so I hope that your livers have been properly trained for this! This is the “main” book…
Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For January 25, 2021
2015 Cortes de Cima Touriga Nacional (Alentejo): Like getting intense stares from some very serious black licorice and violets. $NA A- 2017 Herdade do Rocim Touriga Nacional (Alentejo): Basically, treating everything – the grip, chewy black-&-blue fruits, & tobacco – but the price tag as large & in charge. $15 B+ 2017 Bortolomiol Rive di…
Wine in the Time of Coronovirus, Part 22: Who’s Down With BPC? (Bruno Paillard Champagne Tasting)
I think that we can forgive Alice Paillard, of Bruno Paillard Champagne, for being opinionated. As the daughter of the eponymously named BPC’s founder, she’s basically had a lifetime of working with someone who himself is, well, opinionated about Champagne. According to Alice (with whom I tasted through a few BPC samples as part of…
Wine Reviews: Weekly Mini Round-Up For January 18, 2021
NV Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Blancs (Champagne): Like yellow apples and freshly baked goods; only, they’re being served in heaven. $95 A 2017 Fattoria di Calappiano Collegonzi Sangiovese (Toscana): Earthy, spicy, feisty, and almost too big… emphasis on the “almost.” $NA A- 2015 Dow’s Late Bottled Vintage Port (Portugal): The poor man’s VP? Maybe, but…
Carignan, My Wayward Son (Chile’s Carignan Renaissance for NVWA)
Just a quick-hit update today to let you know that my latest piece for Napa Valley Wine Academy is live. This one, titled Chile’s Carignan Renaissance, was particularly fun for me to put together, reuniting me with some long-time contacts in Chile’s burgeoning smaller-producer scene, and allowing me to taste samples of (and wax pseudo-philosophically…
