Grenache Blanc, How I Love Thee
*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery This wine hid in my basement. Which is a total shame since it appears it’s now sold out. However if they decide to make it again, you should go get some. Quickly apparently. I still want to tell you about it though so you...
Damn, This Was Good! (2)
Both of these damned good wines are from Sonoma County, and both involve pizza, for good or ill, as you will see. Made a pretty darned great pizza last night, definitely a candidate for the apparently infinitely-expandable Top 25 category. The toppings included a generous handful of fresh basil; an also generous amount of oven-dried...
Weekend Wine Events
Fall is in the air and there is no better time to visit a winery. Take time this weekend to visit a winery or taste a wine you haven’t tried before. Remember to save one day for the Maryland Wine Festival, one of Maryland’s largest wine festivals. Many Maryland wineries participate in this festival and...
Three from Steelhead
The first vintage of Steelhead was released in 2002. The label was founded by Quivira Vineyards to benefit Trout Unlimited and the restoration of Wine Creek, a tributary of Dry Creek, in a partnership with governmental, educational and non-profit organizations. Dan and Katy Leese and their partner Pete Kight, owner of Quivira, launched their company...
Sips: How Sweet It Isn’t – A Superb Dry California Riesling
Like the issue of climate change, the notion that dry riesling exists in this world still has its detractors -- those who believe that riesling is always sweet. Just the other day I found myself explaining the facts about riesling once again to someone...
Even More Bears
*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery. Even though I wasn’t making food that went very well with this wine, I was really in the mood for a Pinot. So I plucked the 2009 Sean Minot 4 Bears Carneros Pinot Noir from the basement. It clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by...
2010 Napa Cellars Sauvignon Blanc
*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks for the brand. Although our weather is turning a little cooler here, I’m still tossing plenty of white wines into the mix. Even at only 80 today the humidity is a bear. Hunting in the basement I went for the 2010 Napa Cellars...
Harvest Preview at Kunde Winery
Kunde Winery is a longtime favorite here at CellarBlog. When we saw reports that harvest was starting in Sonoma we reached out to them for a harvest report. Below is my interview with Zach Long, Director of Winemaking Operations at Kunde:1. When did th...
Harvest Starts in Sonoma: an Interview with Nick Frey
Harvest reports have started coming out of Sonoma. I checked in with the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission to see what we can expect from this year's harvest. Nick Frey answered some questions for me and provided me with some great images:1. When did ...
Two Sleek Napa Valley Zinfandels …
… and both are single-vineyard wines. And neither are huge, super-ripe, high-octane, hot, cloying, sweetish zinfandels, examples of which continue to be produced in California, though they clearly defy any rational sense of balance and drinkability. No, these models are exemplars of the grape’s deeply fruity, spicy and innate tannic character that doesn’t have to...
Sips: Post-hurricane, the power returns and the corks pop
Hurricane Irene, as everyone knows, inflicted only a glancing blow on New York City, but in the suburbs and beyond it was a much different story. The day after, we spent most of the day cleaning up around our house in eastern Long Island, and now it wa...
