A few weeks ago, I visited San Diego for yet another stint of judging at the annual Critics Challenge International Wine Competition, now in its sixteenth year. As is always the case with CC, the organization, staff, and execution were all top-notch, allowing us critic-judge-types to give the wines their fair due under the palate…
Category: wine review
Texas Four-Step (A Deeper Dive Into Texas Hill Wine Country)
While I enjoy the thrill of the new, in some ways I am a creature of habit. Specifically, I have both a habit of getting invited to wine regions that don’t make the usual list of media darling locales, and I have a habit of accepting those invitations because, well, new. And so it was…
Long-haired Hippy Good Guy (Spicewood Vineyards Recent Releases)
“It only took me… eleven years!” remarked Ron Yates, owner of the family-run Spicewood Vineyards, which produces about three thousand cases from about forty acres in the about-as-unlikely-as-they-come-at-first-but-upon-further-review-kind-of-inevitable fine wine region of Texas Hill Country. Yates was speaking about the fact that he and Texas-native winemaker Todd Crowell can now offer an all-estate tasting list….
2 Legit 2 Quit (The Revitalization of Château Pédesclaux)
Ah, good old, dependable Château Pédesclaux. Well, for those in the know when it comes to Bordeaux, this Pauillac producer was dependable for decades… in that one could usually depend on it to under-perform. Established back in 1810 by the wine broker who gave it its name (Pierre Urbain Pédesclaux), Pédesclaux rose to prominence rather…