2022 Chateau Les Mesclances, "Romane" Cotes de Provence Rosé
Sometimes you want a really good Rose but not, necessarily, something too serious that you need to fuss a lot about: Something aromatic, dry and really, really pretty. ...
The 2015 Valpolicella Classico Superiore lifts up with unprecedented freshness as a beautiful mix of fresh cherries, cloves and cedar is complemented by rosy florals. This is a model of purity, slightly salty in character, with crisp red fruits and...
As the temps creep back into the 90s, I am reminded that there is no better wine to beat the heat and match the food than a crisp, lively, flavorful Sauvignon Blanc. This is one that has played its way onto our shelves several years ago and...
Most people don’t associate Cabernet Franc with South Africa but it has been in the ground here for centuries. The Raats family of Stellenbosch has made the grape their raison d’etre (along with some excellent cuvees of Chenin Blanc) as...
Friuli exists where East meets West, and the cities of Udine and Trieste are stunning cultural and architectural reminders that, depending on who wins what war, Friuli’s inclusion in Italy is more arbitrary than part of any great European master...
2017 Olga Raffault Chinon 'Les Picasses'
, the Olga Raffault Chinon has my vote for the PERFECT red for the summer season. It’s the very definition of finesse, yet there is plenty enough chutzpah to stand up to everything you could...
2018 Chateau Lassegue, St. Emilion Grand Cru
While Cabernet Franc comprises only 35% of the blend here (the rest being Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon), it plays a very important part in this supremely elegant Right Bank Bordeaux from Saint...
We think Cabernet Franc makes an excellent Rose. The best can capture the grape’s silky texture and lovely dash of white pepper. Joguet is one of Chinon’s acknowledged masters and his Rose is always one of the best (and most serious- by...
The 2015 Valpolicella Classico Superiore magnum lifts up with unprecedented freshness as a beautiful mix of fresh cherries, cloves and cedar is complemented by rosy florals. This is a model of purity, slightly salty in character, with crisp red...
A claret sort of blend, with 20% merlot meshed to even parts cab and cab franc, dried in the traditional fashion for nigh on two months. A wine of latent power, the tannic mettle serving to compress prune, alpine amaro scents, licorice root and camphor...
Tasting Notes: The Rosso Ca'del Merlo is a blend of 55% Corvina and Corvinone, 30% Rondinella, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon witht the rest made up of a field blend of Cabernet Franc, Nebbiolo, Croatina, Sangiovese all from...
If a wine could perfectly express its origins, Kofererhof’s Műller-Thurgau might be one of the most expressive wines in the world! Those who have travelled up here, deep in the mountains just a few kilometers south of...
The French invasion of Oregon, beginning many years ago when the Drouhin family first planted their flag in the Willamette Valley, was based entirely on the notion that, without the ability to expand Burgundy’s borders any further, Oregon’s...
2020 Domaine Marcel Deiss Alsace 'le Jeu des Verts' Blanc
Robert Parker: From the south-facing Gruenenspiel cru, the onion-colored 2020 Le Jeu de Verts is the first orange wine of the domaine and blends Riesling, Blanc de Pinot Noir...
2019 Ostatu Ecobal, Rioja Alavesa
Growers for a large part of their 250-year history, it was husband and wife, Doroteo and Maria Asuncio Saenz, who initiated the push toward estate-bottled wines back in the 1970s at Ostatu. The winery also...
When Paul Hobbs set out to create a value-priced stable of wines to balance out his high-priced estate and single-vineyard offerings, he approached the project with the same single-minded intensity and meticulousness that have made the Hobbs label one of...
When Paul Hobbs set out to create a value-priced stable of wines to balance out his high-priced estate and single-vineyard offerings, he approached the project with the same single-minded intensity and meticulousness that have made the Hobbs label one of...
When Paul Hobbs set out to create a value-priced stable of wines to balance out his high-priced estate and single-vineyard offerings, he approached the project with the same single-minded intensity and meticulousness that have made the Hobbs label one of...
As allocated as Rose gets in the United States, Sinskey’s Vin Gris of Pinot Noir is a longtime category buster! This is as beautiful as it gets and our allocation will sell out shortly! This earns *** Hammocks and **** Arugulas on our...
Being so far removed from the hubbub of Napa and Sonoma, in the northwest corner of Anderson Valley north of Philo, was the ideal location for Milla Handley to craft wines under her own banner. With plenty of experience under her belt at some of...
Our search for Napa Valley Cabernets at good prices has taken us down yet another enticing rabbit hole. This time we popped out at the doorstep of Master Sommelier Ian Cauble who you might remember for his featured roles in the Somm and Into the...
I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this wine since tasting a barrel sample last fall with the importer. We loved the new cleaner packaging for a start, and the wine was sensational! While the 2019 was remarkable,...
When it comes to American versions of the Cabernet Franc grape, there seem to be two distinct camps. One looks at Franc like Sauvignon and aims for riper, silkier, more powerful wines that show a lot of texture, polish and class. Crocker...
2020 Mas de Boislauzon Cotes du Rhone Villages Rouge
Man, these 2020 Rhone reds are fun to drink. This vintage seems to have produced a bevy of Grenache-based lovelies with not only nicely concentrated fruit without excessive alcohol (no...
2019 Giulia Negri Barolo Tartufaia
OK. The 2018 vintage of the Negri Barolo Tartufaia was PRIMA’s Wine of the Year in 2022- a magnificent achievement that made the best of a challenging vintage and combined gorgeous aromatics,...
2019 Vietti Barolo Ravera
Vinous Media: The 2019 Barolo Ravera is the most intensely mineral and saline of the Barolos. Crushed rocks, white pepper, flowers, orange zest, red berry fruit and bright acids all run through this finely sculpted,...
Winemaker Notes
This Cabernet truly defines the best of Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon. With a deep garnet color and luscious viscosity aromas of dark chocolate, ground coffee and fresh leather. On the palate, intense dark fruit, sweet vanilla, black...
Rully, near the regional city of Chalon-sur-Soane and just three miles south of Chassagne-Montrachet as the Burgundian crow flies, has long been the source of some of the most over-achieving white values in all of Burgundy. The area has long been...
2021 Domaine La Folie Rully Blanc 'Clos La Folie'
Rully, near the regional city of Chalon-sur-Soane and just three miles south of Chassagne-Montrachet as the Burgundian crow flies, has long been the source of some of the most over-achieving white...
2022 Domaine Andre Neveu Sancerre 'La Manoir' Chavignol
Given all the other crises we are dealing with these days, the lack of Sancerre doesn’t rank very high. That is, unless you have a true hankering for what might be the world’s...
Is Barolo going to the dogs?????
One of the pioneers of organic viticulture in Piemonte, Pietro Berutti’s La Spinona is probably one of the best producers of Barbaresco and Barolo you’ve never heard of. But with one of the...
2020 Hubert Bouzereau-Grueres Bourgogne Chardonnay
If you throw a rock into the village of Meursault, you’re likely to hit someone named Bouzereau and, as such, this last name has been synonymous with great Meursault for centuries. But all...
2022 Li Veli Susumaniello Rosato IGP Puglia
John: A personal favorite from Italy’s sunny Adriatic coast, this has great substance to go along with its fabulous aromatics. This wine reminds me of a gorgeous sun-spangled lunch overlooking...
2022 La Spinetta 'Il Rose di Casanova' Toscana IGT
If you know Giorgio Rivetti, you know he doesn’t ‘dabble.’ When he does something, he does it big, or he doesn’t do it at all! The family business began with Moscato- and...
2021 Gini Soave Classico
People of a certain age still cringe at the word ‘Soave’ as it conjures up the virtual ocean full of really bad wine once grown in the flats along the autostrada near Soave castle between Verona and Venice...
The recent boomlet in Rose has left us shaking our heads a bit. How many of these never-before-seen pink wines we see out there are now being produced simply to ride the bandwagon? And how many are truly serious players in the Rose...
2021 Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel
As the weather turns warm this week, my thoughts have turned to our neglected backyard and the long-suffering grill sitting out there. The poor thing has spent all winter under a cover and ignored, ...
The first thing you’ll notice about Corsican wine is that the nomenclature is unlike anything you’ve ever encountered. The winery names, grape names and place names will be foreign to you, unless, of course, you’ve already visited...
I remember when the wines of Tikal first hit the marketplace some years ago, creating quite a stir with their glamorous wines, distinctive packaging and attractive pricing. Tikal also has a connection to the most famous producer in all of...
The Wester Reach Pinot Noir comes from the DuMOL O’Connell Estate, two Dutton family sites (Widdoes and Upper Road) and the Occidental Road Vineyard and boasts a complexity of Pinot Noir clones that bring black raspberry and cherry fruit flavors...
The Wester Reach Chardonnay hails from a who’s-who of cool-climate Sonoma royalty including vineyards like Ritchie, Lorenzo, Charles Heintz and the DuMOL O’Connell Estate. Think here of the body of a classic California Chardonnay bolted...