Many big wine review sites like eRobert Parker or Wine Enthusiast Magazine offer their top wine lists. I do glance through these once in awhile but the top wines are often out of my price range and hard to find around here. If you’re willing to do some research however they can be a quick way to find new wines. I’ll…
Casillero del Diablo 2013 Carmenere Reserva
Black currants, plums, rose, grapefruit, cherry. Sounds like a fruit salad but these are also descriptors commonly associated with particular grape varieties. Currants with Cabernet Sauvignon, plums with Merlot, roses with the difficult to pronounce Gewurztraminer, grapefruit with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and cherries with Sangiovese (Chianti) or cold climate Pinot Noir. I’ve learned to associate…
Townshend Cellars Red Table Wine: A Non-vintage Blend
Champagne is the famous sparkling wine from its regional namesake in France. Everyone loves to celebrate with Champagne but it is also super food friendly being dry and high in acidity. Why am I talking about Champagne when this post is about a red table wine? Well, Champagne is also the most well known example of…
Fontanafredda Briccotondo 2014: Barbera Wine from Langhe
My favorite wine blog Wine Folly recently posted an article called Why Love Wine? It really got me thinking. Why do I like wine? Madeline’s five points are this: Why love wine… It’s like a micro time travel machine in a bottle, BECAUSE it’s an acquired taste, It’s good for you in small doses, Zillions of…
Sebastiani Vineyards 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County: California Cab
Here is another Cabernet Sauvignon to add to the California Cab series. This one comes from Sonoma, more specifically from the American Viticulture Areas (AVA) of Sonoma Valley, Alexander Valley, and Chalk Hill. Since it is sourced from multiple AVAs the bottle says Sonoma County, the general AVA for the whole region. Sebastiani has a long history…
Herencia Altes Terra Alta Garnatxa Negra: Grenache from Spain
There are thousands of grape varieties in the world and getting to know their names is a big hurdle in learning about wine. We tend towards ones that are familiar, shying away from the odd ones we know nothing about. There are the simple typical ones like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Chardonnay. Then there are…
Chateau Haut-Mayne 2006: Bordeaux Blend from Graves
I have always found Bordeaux intimidated. It could be the typically high price, the complicated classification system, or the cheap and tasteless bottles I’ve had before that deterred me. Whatever the reasons, I have tried very little of it. When I saw this bottle, with a single subregion on the label as opposed to the catch-all “Bordeaux” designation, I couldn’t wait to…
Ruffino 2011 Riserva Ducale Chianti: a Tuscany Classic
Tuscany is a land of beautiful rolling hills and tall cypress tree surrounded villas. It is also home to the grape Sangiovese which is used in the blend Chianti. Gone are the days when Chianti would conjure up romantic images of wide bottomed bottles wrapped in straw baskets in the middle of red and white checkered…
Villa Maria Pinot Noir Private Bin: a Wine From Marlborough
Marlborough is one of the northern regions on the south island of New Zealand. It has hot days and cold nights which produce fruity wines that retain acidity for balance. While best known for zesty Sauvignon Blanc other varieties are taking hold as well. Pinot Noir is just coming into it’s own there with the oldest vines producing the best examples….
Jean-Paul Brun Terres Dorees Chardonnay Classic 2013: A Beaujolais Blanc
As much as I like to buy my wine locally it is always a pleasure to visit my favourite boutique wine shop in Cochrane. If I were to ever start a wine store it would be very similar to the Vinestone Wine Co. They carry around 100 wines arranged from bold to light (rather than by region)…
Cantine Faliesi Arbosto Rosso 2014: A Wine from Campania Italy
I’ve read that one of the best ways to really learn wine is to develop a good relationship with a local wine shop to get good tips on what to buy. I’ve been patronizing one local shop for quite a few years and have built up a good repor with the owner. The other night…
Inniskillin 2012 Cabernet Franc Estate Series
Even though we live in Canada it isn’t often that we drink the wine produced here. One reason for this is good quality Canadian wine tends to be higher priced than the equivalent in other up and coming regions. Canadian wineries are often small or newer than wineries in well known regions, thus making smaller…
