So, like what is this stuff, anyway?
I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes with you via twitter (limited to 140 characters). They are meant to be quirky, fun, and easily-digestible reviews of currently available wines. Below is a wrap-up of those twitter wine reviews from the past week (click here for the skinny on how to read them), along with links to help you find these wines, so that you can try them for yourself. Cheers!

• 11 Agape Red (Peloponnese): Crowd-pleasing bout between brambly blackberries, juicy blueberries, and sour cherries not afraid to bite. $9 B- >>find this wine<<
• 11 Thira Estates Assyrtiko (Santorini): Cut lemons, grapefruit rind, and wet rocks, all fixing you a rather tight and steely gaze. $20 B >>find this wine<<
• 07 Kikones Ippeas (Ismaros): Like a big, dark, dusty, & leathery Paso Robles red on an extended-stay vacation in the Greek islands. $19 B >>find this wine<<
• 06 Kikones Limnio Red (Ismaros): Imagine Lemberger, but as the sexy, exotic, international jet-setting protagonist of a spy novel. $23 B >>find this wine<<
• 10 Kikones Maron White (Ismaros): Not an easy one to get to know; but it’s ready with flowers, melon & citrus if you’re ready to try. $15 B >>find this wine<<
• 11 Helios White (Tripolis): Bringing just a little bit of the fun of a southern Greek beach party right to your table – & your mouth. $12 B- >>find this wine<<
• 06 Kayra Imperial Red (Elazig): It’s Big, it’s modern, it’s bold; & toasty, massively fruity, & otherwise unapologetically unforgiving $25 B >>find this wine<<
• 09 Kayra Vintage Okuzgozu Single Vineyard (Elazig): Cherry liqueur, sweet oak & giving-no-quarter tannins; & a side of coffee, too. $20 B- >>find this wine<<
• 11 Lieb Family Cellars Bridge Lane Rose (North Fork): So subtle, maybe too subtle; there are flowers, berries & pith if you’re lookin $16 B- >>find this wine<<
• 11 Lieb Family Cellars Pinot Blanc (North Fork): The tropical fruits have arrived, they want to quench your thirst w/ mineral water. $20 B >>find this wine<<
• 10 Chateau Tanunda Grand Barossa Riesling (Barossa): Petrol, pear, & possessing of a pretty, persuasive, passionate personality. $16 B >>find this wine<<
• 10 Chateau Tanunda Grand Barossa Shiraz (Barossa): Almost as dense – & almost as vanilla-and-berry-filled – as a layer cake dessert. $20 B >>find this wine<<
• 10 Chateau Tanunda Grand Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa): When I say “Wu” you say “Tangy (fruit)”… & “pass the tomato leaf.” $20 B >>find this wine<<
• 08 Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley): Juicy fruit, dusty boots, & carrying a bit of a spare tire around the midsection. $10 C+ >>find this wine<<
• 10 Domaine de Bernier Chardonnay (Vin de Pays du Val de Loire): Grocery bag of citrus & tropical fruits, about bursting at the seams $11 B- >>find this wine<<

So, like what is this stuff, anyway?
I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes with you via twitter (limited to 140 characters). They are meant to be quirky, fun, and easily-digestible reviews of currently available wines. Below is a wrap-up of those twitter wine reviews from the past week (click here for the skinny on how to read them), along with links to help you find these wines, so that you can try them for yourself. Cheers!

• 11 Kyklos Moschofilero (Peleponnese): Sweet honeysuckle, ripe peaches, a heaping of slate & a whole lotta swagger to go with it all. $12 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Martin Codax Albarino (Rias Baixas): Lemony, crisp, food-friendly & refreshing it certainly is; shy and complex it certainly is not $16 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Marques de Caceres Rioja Blanco (Rioja): Just checked in as the mayor of friendly, refreshing, grapefruity Viura introductions. $9 B- >>find this wine>>
• 07 Muga Reserva Unfiltered (Rioja): A tasty tart dark cherry cake, but with maybe a bit too much earth-&-oak frosting for a topping. $28 B >>find this wine>>
• 04 Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva (Rioja): Dazzles w/ spicy perfume, entices w/ savory black cherry once it drops its long leather coat $52 A- >>find this wine>>
• 11 Domaine Sigalas Asirtiko Athiri (Santorini): Not an air put on here, apart from that gorgeous Santorini saline sea air breeze. $17 B >>find this wine>>
• 11 Agnus de Valdelana de Autor (Rioja): Big, spicy oak doesn’t undercut even bigger, spicier black cherry, herbs & chalky tannin. $18 B >>find this wine>>
• 09 Valdelana Crianza (Rioja): So much tobacco leaf on the cherry fruit & vanilla that you just might try to roll it & light it up. $14 B >>find this wine>>
• 11 Valdelana Tempranillo Joven (Rioja): Beaujolais on holiday in Rioja, brings bouncy red berries & bananas, then decides to stay. $11 B- >>find this wine>>
• 11 Valdelana Malvasia (Rioja): Grapefruit & papaya, perfume & pith, aromatics & restraint; why aren’t more Riojans bottling this 100%? $12 B >>find this wine>>
• 04 Pierola Reserva (Rioja): Like drinking in an old school British Port Lounge & smokehouse, just before moving onto Cognac & stogies. $25 B >>find this wine>>
• 06 Ysios Reserva (Rioja): Kind of like dark cherry cola for the World’s Most Interesting Man (at a stay-thirsty price, as well). $25 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 04 Campo Viejo Tempranillo Gran Reserva (Rioja): Smoke this tobacco if you got ‘em; tasting fine now (but prob ready to retire soon) $22 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 07 Campo Viejo Tempranillo Reserva (Rioja): Crowd-pleasers unite: here’s a modern, silky Rioja with a nod to the dried-cherry past. $14 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Campo Viejo Tempranillo (Rioja): Tempranillo that’s vibrant & floral, & a cheaper date than anyone you ever met in high school. $10 B- >>find this wine>>
• 05 Inspiracion Valdemar Graciano (Rioja): An herbal, spicy, darkly structured mind f*ck (but it’s a pleasing & memorable mind f*ck!) $35 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 05 Inspiracion Valdemar Rioja Edicion Limitada (Rioja): Jump through the heat & youll land on bed of tea leaves & powerful currants. $45 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 08 Valdemar Inspiracion Maturana (Rioja): Like Carmenere’s bigger, smoother, wealthier & generally suaver-with-the-ladies brother. $40 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 08 Conde de Valdemar Crianza (Rioja): Like a fruitier welcome mat for all things Rioja (leather, wood, savory dark cherry… & funk) $15 B- >>find this wine>>

And you thought I was already there, didn’t you? About being a cretin, I mean.

This week, I head out (yes, again) on the road, this time bound for the Greek island of Crete, a trip that’s been in the making in some way/shape/form with www.allaboutgreekwine.com since 2010 (we last discussed it when I visited with them in Santorini almost precisely two years ago).

The interesting thing about this trip, in the Going Pro side of things, is that in some ways I’m “on assignment,” having preliminarily agreed with Sommelier Journal to pen a regional overview piece on Crete for their 2013 publication schedule.

I am hoping in no small part that my eventual appearance in a wine glossy will show that I’m not anti-wine-glossy (though I am anti-douchebaggery) and will help to temper what seems to be unhealthily strong reactions from other wine glossy staff whenever I mention the words “wine glossy” on these virtual pages, to the point where the critical mention significantly outshines the actual focus of the article (hey, weren’t we talking about somebody’s wine here, anyway?). The message, I think, being twofold:…

Read the rest of this stuff »

So, like what is this stuff, anyway?
I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine sample tasting notes with you via twitter (limited to 140 characters). They are meant to be quirky, fun, and easily-digestible. Below is a wrap-up of the twitter reviews from the past week (click here for the skinny on how to read them), along with links to help you find them so you can try them for yourself. Cheers!

• 10 Masi Bonacosta Valpolicella (Valpolicella Classico): Dried cherries, vanilla and a rather congenial attitude at the dinner table. $14 B- >>find this wine>>
• 03 Ridge Lytton Springs Vineyard (Dry Creek Valley): For a "lesser vintage" this sure sports a lot of old-fashioned vinous kung-fu. $40 A- >>find this wine>>
• 11 Hatzidakis White (Santorini): Aidani, Athiri, Assyrtiko, attitude, and as much citrus/orange rind as any alky can reasonably muster $16 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Recanati Chardonnay (Galilee): Wants to be creamy, but there’s no hiding that linear, stony vibrancy is where its soul really is. $16 B >>find this wine>>
• 08 Feudi di San Gregorio Aglianico Rubrato (Irpinia Aglianico): Lookin’ for cherries & spice in all the right places, & finding them. $16 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Alpha Estate Axia Malagouzia (Florina): As if Torrontes went on a diet, through a strict regimen of salt water lake lap swimming. $17 B >>find this wine>>
• 08 Alpha Estate Xinomavro Hedgehog Vineyard (Amyndeon): Sour dark cherry that might be too sour for some; but just man up, it’s tasty! $20 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Marius Blanc By M. Chapoutier (Pays d’Oc): Drink it this Summer, & you’ll be wishing for next Summer so you can drink it again. $11 B- >>find this wine>>
• 09 Red Tail Ridge Blaufränkisch (Finger Lakes): The Death Star, if it had been made from tasty black cherry pits & kick-ass pepper. $22 B+ >>find this wine>>
• NV Red Tail Ridge Dornfelder (Finger Lakes): Red plums, funky earth, spicy pepper & a poignant pining for the German home land. $19 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Red Tail Ridge Pinot Noir (Finger Lakes): Cranberry, earth & sweet spice welcoming the dawn of Summer with open arms & a smile. $20 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Red Tail Ridge Semi-Dry Riesling (Finger Lakes): You can get a slightly better balancing act at a circus but it won’t taste as good $16 B >>find this wine>>
• 10 Red Tail Ridge Dry Riesling (Finger Lakes): Lime zest right from the FLX Riesling textbook, & a heap of spice adorns the page. $18 B >>find this wine>>
• 09 Parallel Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Definitely a wine for today; but, thankfully, today happens to be pretty tasty. $60 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 08 Newton Vineyards Unfiltered Chardonnay (Napa County): Character? Oh, yeah, in spades, actually. Subtlety? Uh, not really, no. $60 B+ >>find this wine>>
• 09 Trimbach Riesling (Alsace): Oh, wait, did you make stir fry with spicy peanut sauce for dinner? Really? So, like, can I come over? $21 B >>find this wine>>