Pleiades XX, Thackrey, & Local Three: Authentic Collision

Tweet Some wine is described to be authentic. I have been meaning to build a working definition of authenticity for my own clarification and finally managed to squash a prolonged streak of procrastination after discovering ($25 ****) Sean Thackrey’s Pleiades XX on Atlanta’s Local Three Kitchen & Bar wine list. This adjective that has blossomed into standard wine enthusiast fodder, bandied throughout critical [...]

3 Reasons Puech-Haut Prestige 2009 Is Top Holiday Wine

Tweet Imagine the convenience of someone delivering two cases of one very perfect red wine to your front door every year at the start of the holiday season.  Not 100 point and $6,000 a case perfect, just perfectly versatile, delicious, and affordable red wine for all the usual and familiar holiday situations. Something to serve at [...]

Calvet-Thunevin Hugo On Turtle Creek Mansion List

Tweet Once again I found myself staring at a classic wine list, this time at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, that was deep in severely marked up classic Bordeaux, Burgundy, and California Cabernet.  Looking for an after dinner bottle to enjoy with some colleagues did  not call for $300 California Cabernet, $600 Burgundy, [...]

De Forville Nebbiolo 2009 – Another Rosenthal Wine Value

Tweet Neal Rosenthal Wine Merchants was table #2 and (*** $20) 2009 De Forville Langhe Nebbiolo was wine #3.  Rosenthal was one of nine importers and distributors showcasing 45 wines in total at the 8th annual Ball Square Fine Wines Grand Tasting. Without too much surprise, Rosenthal’s portfolio offered exciting moments at another chock-a-block event where [...]

Monbousquet 2000: Right (Bank) Hook to Selling Bordeaux

Tweet When you turn Bordeaux seller like me, a once covetous disposition for hoarding claret evaporates like morning dew in an afternoon sun. Selling first growths for ten times original investments at $1,000+ per bottle can be disorienting.  A plethora of exciting alternatives to rock your palate and backfill the cellar are sympathetic enough to this profitable culling and [...]

Burgundy Value Not Oxymoron in Mercurey

Tweet The region’s wines are monuments to fine drinking at their pinnacle but inconsistent, expensive, and hardIy easy to understand with intricate layers of sub regions, villages, vineyard divisions, and winemakers.  So not buying or drinking Burgundy with any regularity, the fact that Mercurey was a pre-phylloxera, top Burgundy production village before sinking in popularity [...]

What’s Going on With the Price of Wine

Tweet I finally caught up with a replay of Rob McMillan’s Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) webinar presentation of their own 2011-2012 State of the Wine Industry report. Rob is founder of SVB’s Wine division.  His presentation was not really a state of the wine industry report since the bank and its research are only concerned with the U.S., [...]

Discovering 2008 Schiopetto Friulano

Tweet There would not be any reason to look beyond the (**** $29) 2008 Schiopetto Friulano that sat on Woodfire Grill’s wine list. I had finally made it to Kevin Gillespie’s (master of flavor intensity and popularized on the “Top Chef” TV show) Atlanta restaurant and all I could think about was getting my nose deep into a [...]

Value Discovery: 2006 Hecht & Bannier Minervois at Flyte

Tweet It’s a rarity, but I found myself in Nashville, TN last week.  With business entertainment very much on the agenda, I searched for one solid restaurant with a decent wine list and found myself at Flyte World Dining and Wine drinking ($18 ***1/2) 2006 Hecht & Bannier Minervois.  This Languedoc-Roussillon stole my attention, and that’s saying a [...]

High Quality $30 Oregon Pinot & Raymond Usseglio Deal

Tweet I guess I’m thankful Tower Wine & Spirits is located in my new “transitional” Atlanta neighborhood near where Piedmont meets Cheshire Bridge. While I live in Boston, I have been spending a lot of time working in Atlanta and it made sense to skip the hotel scene and just get an apartment.  With lots of open [...]

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