Domaine Serene and Chardonnay Tales

Chardonnay remains a tale of two worlds.  One way to consider that proposition is by pondering the polarized old and new world style profiles.  But even setting continental divides aside, the two tales of Chardonnay remain conflicted inside the US.  I was reminded of this when the folks at Harvest PR & Marketing got in [...]

Blind Tasting 2009 Bordeaux Value

The wines hidden inside brown paper bags came from Fronsac, Castillon, and the Haut Medoc. There were two token wines, one from St. Julien and the other St. Emilion.  The most expensive bottle of 2009 Bordeaux in the lineup was $33 retail, insuring that the evening’s foundation would be poured and hardened sans pedigree. Besides [...]

Wine Blogging and Parenting

WineZag was conceived three years ago this week. Happy Birthday to it! In a related side fact, my two amazing sons are now 21 and 18 years respectively.  With identical veracity, I anticipate the blog’s birthdays as keenly as the boys’ red letter days. Plowing into WineZag’s fourth year of wine content creation, the connections between [...]

Wine Blogging Wednesday #76 Wrap Up: Barossa Boomerang

The wines and writers came out from Down Under for Wine Blogging Wednesday 76, celebrating the Barossa Boomerang; a recovery of Australian wine sales in North America.  Ardent Australian juice fans, real time Barossa wine travelers, Aussie wine drinkers on multi-year hiatuses, curiosity seekers, and value chasers all weighed in.  Great insights into the region were [...]

Rolf Binder’s 1996 Veritas Cabernet Sauvignon

How does Barossa cabernet sauvignon age?  Here’s some insight based on only one example; $29.99 Rolf Binder’s 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon from his Veritas Winery.  While the question deserves more exhaustive tasting with full sets of wines, this was a telling experiment using just one cabernet from a top Barossa winery. WINE BLOGGING WEDNESDAY 76: BAROSSA BOOMERANG [...]

2010 Donkey and Goat Rosé vs. 1985 La Chapelle?

Just like clocks striking twelve, our cellar coughs up one bottle of 1985 wine every year on April 14.  My wife and I were lucky to be married in this vintage year.  The Bordeaux have aged gracefully despite the vintage’s early accessibility, northern Rhones are holding onto their fruit even now, 1985 Sassicaia made our evening [...]

Return of the Barossa Boomerang: Wine Blogging Wednesday 76

Announcing: Wine Blogging Wednesday 76 (#wbw76) Wednesday April 25, 2012 Australian Comeback Kid-The Barossa Boomerang  Sometime around 2008 American wine drinkers flung their boomerangs en masse far outside US borders, feigning good riddance to indistinguishable Australian Shiraz that all seemed to blend together in minds and cellars. US Australian wine imports sagged in volume and value from [...]

Cos Frappato 2010 Delivers Sicilian Style

What’s not to like about Sicily’s frappato grape?  Bright cherry and red berry fruit, silky juice, light body, excellent acidity, and great consumer value. Earlier this year I was knocked out by the frappatos and nero d’Avolas from Arianna Occhipinti, realizing how unadorned (maybe a good alternative to the overused “natural” marketing spin?) winemaking can turn [...]

Strategy & Debate for 2009 Bordeaux

Let’s not debate the greatness of the 2009 Bordeaux vintage as the top wines make their way to US markets.  For now, squelch all lamentations over price inflation for first and second growths on the heels of their runaway futures market.  Turn a blind eye to Parker’s very recent The Empire Strikes Back article where he wrote ”this is unquestionably [...]

Hong Kong and Global Wine Market

A new study, albeit based on 2010 data, was just released by Vinexpo awarding Hong Kong residents top spot on the Asian continent for per capita wine consumption.  The Wall Street Journal, reporting on the study last week, said the average Hong Kong consumer drank 6.3 bottles in 2010, about twice as much volume as Japan [...]

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