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 [...]

Ignoring California Wines: Is Anybody Listening?

Tweet Last week Steve Heimoff published a post called “California Needs To Be Careful It Doesn’t Price Itself Out Of The Market.”  I become confused when I read things like this because the fact of the matter is California violated my personal quality to price ratio (QPR) tolerance more than a decade ago.  For me, [...]

Top Three Wines of March: Rhone Valley and Napa Valley

Tweet Top wines of the month handsomely represent the southern and northern Rhone Valley with perfect scores and then cross an entire ocean and continent with a winning California Cabernet. WineZag’s “top three wines of the month” section is reserved for a short list of the most compelling wines I have tasted over the previous [...]

Does Stony Hill Produce Age Worthy California Chardonnay?

Tweet My last bottles of 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1997 Stony Hill Chardonnay comprised a short vertical flight preceding two blind flights of 2007 Cabernets that sixteen members of our Boston tasting group recently slurped, swallowed, and spit their way through.  I purchased the wines on release back in the 90′s and one bottle from [...]

Sean Thackrey Pleiades XI-XVIII: Vertical Tasting Without Boundaries

Tweet This weekend’s vertical tasting of Sean Thackrey’s Pleiades XI-XVIII offered a thrilling departure from the familiar variables more traditional vertical tasting sessions showcase; particularly the satisfying intellectual discovery stemming from sensory embodiment of vintage variation against a backdrop of consistent terroir.  Then again, Marin County based Thackrey is the antithetic picture of California wine producers, coming at it [...]

An Afternoon With Alan Peirson and Lesley Warner-Peirson: Peirson Meyer and L’Angevin Wines

Tweet L’Angevin and Peirson Meyer wines are so consistently special, they can resolve the bias of even the most severe doubter that has bumped up against one too many bottles of  mediocre, simple, and frankly bad California Chardonnay.  If I had my own winery in Napa Valley, I would solicit Alan Peirson to manage my [...]

Napa Valley Wine Visit: Making It Small

Tweet I have not enjoyed my visits to Napa Valley in the same way I did in the early 1980′s.  So, I have been asking myself if I am excited to be heading back to the Napa wine scene today after a purposely extended hiatus and so many years of waning interest in another visit [...]

Loomis Vineyards Achieves Early Statement of Style

Tweet I like discovering young wineries working their own infant vineyards as wine makers unveil unique styling and a reliance on their own maturing vines that are not yet naturally producing lower yields with more intense and concentrated fruit.  While it can take years to release the untold treasures embodied in newly planted land, it [...]

Connecting Intellectual and Palate Learning: Tasting Two Sakes and California Cabernet

Tweet An insatiable hunger for discovery and wine education is rewarded every time I taste wines in peer groups.  Without the chance to examine lots of wines every day over an extended period, even frequent tastings of one wine per sitting lays down hurdles to thorough assessment most easily cleared via contextual, side-by-side tastings.   The [...]

Bottle Age Challenge: 1985 Lynch Bages vs. 1985 Chateau Montelena

Tweet I opened two $20 wines, one from Napa Valley and one from Bordeaux’s Paulliac appellation, for a few remaining tasters hanging around after our challenging 2007 Southern Rhone tasting. Don’t let the retail values throw you; price tags are acquisition costs for the 1985 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon and the 1985 Lynch Bages that [...]

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