My first day of a short visit to Portland found me snacking at Clyde Common and sipping local Pinot while perusing the inspired wine list. I realize that I should be seizing the opportunity to drink as much wine from the nearby Willamette valley as I can handle, and this will hopefully come with a [...]

I’m pretty sure that Jamie Oliver is the first ‘celebrity chef’ my wife and I watched regularly on television.  It was 1998 and the series was The Naked Chef, his first, and was very casual, him in his home doing simple (’naked’) recipes, and breaking the fourth wall by talking to the person behind the [...]

I’ve made no secret of my admiration of Road 13’s wines out of Oliver, BC.
Winemaker Michael Bartier has gained quite the following for his attention to detail, terroir and blending techniques.  Road 13 has a wide array of labels on offer, from their now legendary Old Vines Chenin Blanc to cult-favourites Pinot Noir, Syrah and [...]

before & after
For some reason or another, I used to think these “Shuttle Bottles” from Hardys were pretty cool. Not that I was a big supporter in any way, but they just seemed to make drinking wine away from wineglass stocked cupboards a little easier. I now realize that if I’m going to publicly drink, [...]

image by bonequinha_sf
As it usually goes, I had few interesting wines at Nopa in San Francisco the other night. One is what I’m assuming to be the culmination of Jon Bonné of the Chronicle’s One Barrel series. Jon worked under the tutelage of Kevin Kelley to produce a wine as naturally as possible with fruit [...]

When serving wine, there are few situation that I take as seriously as when I’m buying a bottle for family or friends that aren’t as invested in wine as I am. Especially if they are wine lovers, but tend to go for the commercial labels from the commercial regions. Perhaps it’s a similar pressure felt [...]

Domaine Henri Gouges has a celebrated reputation in Burgundy. The domaine, now run by Henri’s grandsons Pierre and Christian, dates back to 1919 and is currently serving up six Premier Cru wines from 14.5 hectares (35 acres) of vines. Henri was a pioneer of domaine bottling in Burgundy and all his vineyards are in the [...]

Saignee’s recent post on one word tasting notes came just at the right time, as it was inspiring and due to opening this place within a few days, my blogging time allowance is at an all-time low.
Here’s what I tried yesterday:

1. Zippy  2. Floral  3. Boring

1. Off  2. Cabernet-ish  3. Sings!  4. Textbook

1. Gold  2. [...]

Thanks to a very capable tour guide, I was able to visit a few coveted wineries in the beautiful Russian River Valley, a sub-AVA of Sonoma County - Copain, Rochioli, and DuMOL. It was a serious departure from my earlier impromptu Napa visit and included tastes of wines that are strictly offered via allocation to [...]

I recently had the chance to try this little number, “Bordello” from Summerland’s Dirty Laundry Vineyard.
Known  primarily for a trilogy of Gewürztraminers from different plots of their vineyard, Dirty Laundry has some of the region’s oldest vinifera vines.  The winery came out of the gates strong with some great aromatic whites about half a decade [...]

Maria Jose López de Heredia
You probably already know a thing or two about R. López de Heredia, the timeless Rioja producer who often free their vintages 10 or 20 years after their neighbours. Traditional in the respect that they’ve been making wine, farming grapes and growing the same varietals for the last 130 odd years. [...]