Mendoza Monday: Focus on Wines of the Uco Valley

John and family recently returned to the US following a year-long Life-Zag in and around Mendoza (with a separate story Side-Zag to Barcelona).  Carrying back a souvenir passion for great Argentine wines and epic grilling sessions, I ended up in a subterranean space in his barely decorated new home in Needham, MA this past Monday to taste through a wide range of wines [...]

Cab Franc and Falanghina With Roots

I can only tolerate an hour, or so, of tasting through large portfolios at crowded trade events.  With an air of desperation, I scurry to discover a new wine or two representing a commensurate quality and value reward for immersing in this tasting format’s inherent nest of inconvenience. My schedule had me in Boston simultaneous with the Loire Valley Wine Bureau tasting at the Taj [...]

Venerable Value Trove or Flash in the Pan?

US consumers just might develop whiplash keeping up with declarations of new regional sources for quality wine values.  Rewind the last ten years and value arrows have stopped on Spain, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Languedoc, Beaujolais, Chile, Loire, and more.  And, there appears to be no let-up. Trying to make sense of the shifting landscape, each new pronouncement of dominance in the global value segment falls neatly into one of these [...]

Perennially Crystal Quail

Regulars know it’s not possible to completely describe the transcendental experience of a Crystal Quail evening.   After the ritual pilgramage through the back-est of Center Barnstead, New Hampshire country roads and arriving in the middle of nowhere to find a small 18th century farmhouse glowing in the setting sun just twenty yards uphill of the rear over sized garden whose bounty is being prepped at [...]

Reconnecting with Cotes du Ventoux in New Hampshire

With the 2006 in distribution and the 2007 releasing, stumbling  across the 2005 Chateau Pesquie Terrasses at a local New Hampshire State Liquor store last week was a pleasant surprise.  I grabbed the remaining 4 bottles on sale at $10.99, ignoring the half dozen 04s and asked for more 05.   With the New Hampshire State Commission selling the 04, 05, [...]

Canlis Renewed

There are spaces and experiences I encounter in life where it is possible to feel the bones of venerablity and simultaneously appreciate the harmonic enhancements of current day excellence.  Last night,  in the same spot the family started back in 1950 on a Seattle cliff, Canlis glistened with energetic respect for its history and a nod to its new iteration. [...]

Gallo for a Nickel or Dime? A Cleansing Period for the Wine Industry at Any Price

The blogosphere has been glowing garnet with empirical proof that the US wine industry haphazardly exposed their flanks to foreign importers with business plans to dominate the value segments of the domestic US fine wine market (recent WineZag post).  The industry continued to plant, expand, and gear up for the $50-$125 dead zone in today’s market.  Not all the competitive imported value wines were sweet, [...]

One Robert Parker

Robert Parker and his Wine Advocate have shaped wine markets and consumer behavior more than any other contemporary critical influence.  The newsletter continues to fulfill its role as the most useful independent review source available. During the early years as the Wine Advocate cemented that position, Parker did all the tasting.  Now, Parker relies on a wider network of regular contributors. The publication navigates a love/hate relationship with buyers [...]

Antinori in 60 Minutes

There are better and harder to find Chianti and sangiovese in the market, but a wine this good in most years from a large program like the Antinori’s is my kind of “go to” wine.

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