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!

• 2016 Grgich Hills Estate Grown Fume Blanc (Napa Valley): Still one of the standard-bearers of the style; and that standard is emblazoned with a graphic of grilled pineapples. $31 A-
• 2014 Frank Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Because sometimes, you just really, really want to see a gratuitous sex scene in your blockbuster Summer movie. $53 A-
• 2016 ZD Wines Reserve Chardonnay (Napa Valley): Big, bountiful, bold, and perhaps just a touch too boisterous in its fondness for toastiness. $77 A-
• 2015 Rodney Strong ‘Upshot’ Red Blend (Sonoma County): There’s nothing here – including the impressive label – that isn’t well-designed, well-crafted, and fun. $25 B+
• 2014 Bending Branch Winery Tannat (Texas): Exactly how it’s supposed to be done, folks; the Lone Star state just might have found yet another star red grape. $30 A-
• 2016 Duchman Family Winery Vermentino (Texas): Temporarily transporting the Tuscan hillsides to the Texas High Planes. $20 B+
• 2014 Allegrini Palazzo della Torre Veronese (Veneto): Without a doubt, stuff will most definitely be strut, my friends. $23 B+
• 2017 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough): That day when it feels like *all* of your neighbors are simultaneously out cutting the lemon-grass. $18 B
• 2016 Mud House Pinot Noir (Central Otago): No frills, capable perkiness, with a side of affability and a pinch of good humor. $18 B
• 2015 Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard ‘Trueman’ Cabernet Sauvignon (McLaren Vale): Sexy, complex, herbal, and like a card deck, sporting just the right mix of the red and the black. $80 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!

• 2017 Villa Sandi Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Cartizze (Veneto): Looking for as refined a take on fun as one could hope to find? Your search is done. You’re welcome. $45 A-
• 2012 Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany): Young, reserved, elegant, and full of sharp wit, along with its pedigree’s potential for greatness. $65 A-
• 2015 Campo alle Comete Bolgheri Superiore (Tuscany): Still a wee babe wrapped in a blanket of sage, leather, and truffles… but a babe born of nearly angelic stock, apparently. $79 A
• 2017 Cleto Chiarli Vecchia Modena “Premium” Lambrusco di Sorbara (Emilia-Romagna): Wild in cherry fruit, wild in floral overgrowth, and wild in perky attitude. $16 B+
• 2016 Donnafugata “Floramundi” Cerasuolo di Vittoria (Sicilia): Earth, flowers, meat, and buoyant plummy and berry fruits… it’s basically an entire tasty meal unto itself. $30 B+
• 2016 Chateau de Poncie Fleurie ‘Le Pré Roi’ (Beaujolais): The king is fond of flowers, tart red berries, pepper, and all-around abundant happiness. $23 B+
• 2015 Quinta de Roriz Prazo de Roriz (Douro): About at easy on the palate – and as easy to appreciate – as the Douro countryside is easy on the eyes. $16 B+
• 2016 P+S Prats & Symington Post Scriptum de Chryseia (Douro): Reliability as a virtue, with sure-footed tannins anchoring all of that soft, supple fruit. $27 B+
• 2017 Bonterra Dry Muscat (Lake County): A winner; and one that’s screaming “Hey, isn’t life just sooooo great? And I am just SOOOOOO happy to see you!!!” $16 B+
• 2017 Dutton-Goldfield Green Valley Gewürztraminer (Russian River Valley): Textbook levels of floral loveliness, with pretty much all varietal boxes ticked. $33 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!

• 2013 Celler Ronadelles Cap de Ruc Cuvee Premium (Montsant): Funky, earthy, elegant, meaty, only in magnum – presumably because it feels so big – and, alas, likely difficult to acquire… $NA A-
• 2007 Celler Ronadelles Jaume Giral Gran Reserva Vinyes Velles (Montsant): Iron fist, velvet glove, and hitting much harder than you’d expect from both its age and the age of its centenary vines. $NA A-
• 2016 Cellers Sant Rafel Solpost Blanc (Montsant): Showing off the curvy fleshiness and beguiling flashiness of Garnaxta Blanca in a compelling, stylish one-piece. $NA B+
• 2017 Cellers Sant Rafel ‘Joana’ (Montsant): Blue is the color of its dreams, its fruits, its flowers, and of the feelings that this tasty red can chase away for you. $NA B
• 2015 Cellers Sant Rafel Solpost “S” (Montsant): For those times when you’re demanding that your Carignan be both burly and beautiful. $NA A-
• 2013 Beringer Vineyards Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Feel free to thoroughly adore it, because the feeling is mutual and it will almost certainly reciprocate for many years to come. $170 A
• 2017 Pahlmeyer Jayson Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley): A lively but ultimately serious séance at a posh CA party, channeling the spirits of Bordeaux Blanc. $30 A-
• 2016 Talbott Vineyards Kali Hart Pinot Noir (Monterey): Does talk of Kali and heart make you conjure up images of dark Indiana Jones movies? Fear not, for this is all the Temple of Pleasantness. $26 B+
• 2016 Niner Wine Estates Jespersen Vineyard Albarino (Edna Valley): Easing you into the realm of the tropically exotic as about as easily as one could hope for outside of booking a private, curated tour. $24 B+
• 2014 Tenute Castelbuono Lampante Montefalco Rosso Reserva (Umbria): Plums, vivacity, funkiness, and scaffolding all being juggled entertainingly, with nary a ball dropped. $NA 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 Coca I Fito Jaspi Negre (Montsant): Might not be winning ribbons for originality, but it’d win the slam-this-while-eating-grilled-hamburgers ribbon handily. $NA B
• 2013 Coca I Fito Jaspi Maragda (Montsant): A little amphora + a good deal of old vine red = a fleshy, concentrated, and powerful Rhone-inspired blend. $30 B+
• 2014 Celler Cairats Seleccio (Montsant): Glazing the plums with smoky, licorice-tinged balsamic reduction, and garnishing with violets and herbs. $NA A-
• 2015 Cellar Cairats Carignan Colleccio (Montsant): Tight, tobacco-laden, thick, and for the thinking person who still likes to get their big red on. $NA A-
• 2014 Catena Zapata ‘D.V. Catena’ Tinto Historico (Mendoza): Not just historico, pero attractivo y especiado, también! $21 B+
• 2013 Giesen The Brothers Pinot Noir (Marlborough): They’re fraternal twins, by the way – Earthy Reservation and Fruity Forwardness. $30 B+
• 2017 Inama Vin Soave Classico (Veneto): Kind of like the Un-cola of refreshing Summer white wine sipping options. $17 B+
• 2017 Cantine-Feudi di San Marzano ‘Talo’ Malvasia Nera (Salento): Earthy, chewy, juicy, and clearly has made peace with its own slightly dark side. $18 B+
• 2016 McCay Cellars Rose (Lodi): Lodi gets lovely, rose gets refined, and a simple pleasure gets simply gorgeous. $18 B+
• 2016 Fields Family Wines Whole Cluster Syrah (Lodi): Black raspberries and black pepper and whooooaaaaaa, bargains like this don’t come around all that often… $28 A-