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 in a “mini-review” format.

They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!

• 2014 Lumos Temperance Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir (Eola-Amity Hills): Grippy, earthy, spicy, and clearly crafted by talented hands. $18 B+
• 2015 Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards Winemaker’s Reserve Pinot Noir (Umpqua Valley): Pretty as a prayer book; pithy, long, and academically this one has textbook consistency. $42 A-
• 2016 Del Rio Vineyards Pinot Gris (Rogue Valley): Round without being flabby, pretty without being prissy, sharp without being biting, good without being pricey. $16 B+
• 2015 Del Rio Vineyards Syrah (Rogue Valley): This rogue is dashing, dark, handsome, and wearing a fair amount of designer leather clothing. $30 B+
• 2015 Wooldridge Creek Tempranillo (Applegate Valley): from a warm vintage comes warm tobacco spices and a warming sensation generally all over your body. $35 B+
• 2013 Cavit Altemasi Metodo Classico Brut Trento (Trentino-Alto Adige): Drawing fine border lines, mostly between citric verve and a sense of richness. $27 B+
• 2013 Enrico Serafino Brut (Alta Langa): Zesty apple and citrus neighbors getting along splendidly, but they definitely like their hedges abd fences just a bit round. $26 B+
• 2012 Alessandro Rivetto Lazzarito Barolo (Piedmont): Vibrant, earthy, lithe, complex, and currently only in its embryonic stage of development. $90 A
• 2016 M. Chapoutier Domaine de Bila-Haut ‘Occultum Lapidem’ (Cotes du Roussillon Villages): It’s the cult of meaty, leathery, herbal, dark, structured expression. Seriously, apparently there totally is one… $30
• 2016 Covenant Wines ‘Zahav’ Late Harvest Botrytis Chardonnay (Sonoma Mountain): Mandarin orange candy that’s bordering on heavenly. $30 B+

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 in a “mini-review” format.

They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!

• 2015 Chalk Hill Estate Red Proprietary Blend (Chalk Hill): Sonoma County gettin’ super-sultry, seductive, and smooth as silk. $70 A-
• 2016 Dutton-Goldfield Redwood Ridge Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast): Textured, dense, dark, and basically an unassuming triumph of bottled excellence. $62 A
• 2014 Rodney Strong Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley): Tucking in those fine, ripe plums, stony minerals, and game meat under a cozy blanket of refined oak. $45 A-
• 2013 Anarchist Wine “Conspiracy Theory” Red (California): Juicy and certainly tasty, though you might feel as though your pocket had been picked. $36 B
• 2016 Stewart Cellars Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley): Grassier, more pungent, more textural, and definitely more affordable than you were expecting from the Valley. $25 B+
• 2015 Amici Cellars Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Might come off as velvety and reticent now, but time will be very, very kind to this one. $84 A
• 2017 Ferraton Pere & Fils Cotes du Rhone Samorens Blanc (Rhone): Those tropical fruits are spreading their stuff out, because that’s just how they roll, bro. $15 B
• 2014 Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Alte Reben Grosses Gewachs (Mosel): Flowers, honey, limes, and… ok, seriously, now you are just showing off… $34 A-
• 2017 Weingut Seehof Pinot Noir Rose Trocken (Rheinhessen): Red currants, dancing in the pure joy of their delightful tangy-ness. $17 B
• W & J Graham’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port (Portugal): ‘Tis the season for drinking delectable pecan pie. $35 B+

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 in a “mini-review” format.

They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!

• 2014 Kishor Savant Red (Galilee): Bordeaux comes to Israel, writing odes to game meat and currants using fine graphite pencils. $36 B+
• 2015 Stewart Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Valley Cab doesn’t get much sexier of a look than this… and that’s really kind of sayin’ sumthin’. $70 A-
• 2016 Stewart Chardonnay (Sonoma Mountain): Almost turning that volume knob all the way up to 11 so that you can adequately rock things out. $37 B+
• 2014 Dutton-Goldfield ‘Deviate’ Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast): Pretty much worth the price for the opportunity to sniff the spice aromas alone. $72 A
• 2014 Domaines Schlumberger Pinot Noir Les Princes Abbés (Alsace): So delicate and feminine, you’d think that it was personifying fine lace. $27 B+
• 2015 Pierre Sparr Pinot Gris Grande Reserve (Alsace): Holding on to your attention with juuuust enough verve and astringent bite. $20 B
• 2012 Alzatura Montefalco Sagrantino (Umbria): Remind your palate to wear its grown-up pants for this one, because it’s gonna need it! $31 B+
• 2017 Marco Felluga Russiz Superiore Sauvignon Collio (Friuli-Venezia Giulia): Pungent, grassy, crystal-clear, and clean as a whistle. $27 B+
• 2012 Quinta da Muradella Gorvia Blanco (Monterrei): Biscuits, lemon peel, nuts, and, well, just a whole bunch of awesomeness. $66 A-
• 2012 Quinta da Muradella ‘Fisterra’ (Monterrei): Peppery, meaty, smokey, and so very, very alive.  $NA A-

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 in a “mini-review” format.

They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!

• 2014 Fields Family Wines Estate Syrah (Lodi): The next time someone tells you that Lodi reds can’t be compelling, hit them over the head with this. Ok, yeah, fine, maybe just pour them a glass instead… $25 B+
• 2009 Clos de La Tech Domaine du Docteur Rodgers Pinot Noir (San Francisco Bay): The tech is modern nearly to its CPU-precise core, but the algorithm favors an earthy nod to Pinot’s darker side. $102 A-
• 2017 Tyrrell’s Wines Semillon (Hunter Valley): Tropically in your face a bit, but don’t – ever – doubt that Hunter valley raciness winning out in the end. $24 B+
• 2017 Torbreck Woodcutter’s Shiraz (Barossa Valley): Big, juicy, and juuuuust vibrant enough to wood-cut through those blueberries. $25 B+
• 2016 Lucien Albrecht Gewurztraminer Reserve (Alsace): The only reservations that you should have about this textbook, pure reserve are… uhm… none, actually. $18 B+
• 2016 Les Vignerons du Pic Chateau d’Assas Gres de Montpellier (Languedoc-Roussillon): A fave well-written, guilty-pleasure movie, only in vinous form. $15 B
• 2016 Tasca d’Almerita Tenuta Regaleali ‘Guarnaccio’ Perricone (Sicily): The black cherries are right from the bramble bush, and have yet to be fully washed, but we like ’em that way. $20 B+
• 2013 Madonna delle Vittorie Trento Brut (Trentino-Alto Adige): There’s nothing about this bright, brioche-tinged delight that isn’t crowd-pleasing. $18 B
• NV Dow’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port (Portugal): Close your eyes, eat your pecan pie, marvel in life’s little pleasures… and just watch that you don’t drink too much of this lip-smacker. $36 B+
• 2015 Concha y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon (Puente Alto): I swear, you keep mixing in that bit of that awesome Cab Franc in there, and I am gonna lose it… in a good way… $120 A