July 22, 2022
This is an absolutely delicious red wine from Tuscany that can be categorized as a “Super Tuscan,” given its reliance on something other than Sangiovese: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah.[...]
May 12, 2022
I’ve lifted the following from the website of Chain Bridge Cellars, a McLean, VA retail store and online presence. See what you think. “Portugal’s wine fame rests on the light, fresh, whites of Vinho Verde and the darkly intense and powerful reds (both sweet and dry!) of the Douro Valley inland from Oporto. But value seekers know that Portugal’s dizzying variety of unfamiliar grape varietals [...]
February 25, 2022
Well-known UK wine critic Jancis Robinson assigned Julia Harding to review this newly arrived beauty. Her take: “The Lizandro Valley provides a distinctive climate that shapes the style of this wine: cloudy mornings, breezes from the Atlantic, warm afternoons on the steep limestone slopes[...]
December 2, 2021
Marietta Cellars has been around for a long time: So has its famous Old Vine Red, a red field blend; i.e., a wine composed of various grapes all grown in the same field or (of late) the same state. It has always been good and always has been inexpensive. Now comes the owners’ next generation. According to [...]
September 23, 2021
Neal Martin of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate gave the wine 89 points and this review: “The 2016 La Bernadotte has a clean and precise bouquet with cigar smoke infused blackcurrant and bilberry fruit. The oak is nicely integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied and [...]
July 9, 2021
Was I pleasantly surprised when I tasted my first sip of this beauty. Big. Bold. Complex aromas and taste. Delightful, and reminiscent of wines that sell for four times the price. According to Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate reviewer Luis Gutiérrez, “The new impressive red blend 2016 Cabriola [...]
June 12, 2021
I have my dwindling supply of this wonderful wine cellared. I opened my first bottle of it near the end of May. I was really struck by how good it is, with qualities one normally would ascribe to a high-end Bordeaux. According to James Suckling, "Sweet berries and walnuts with dried flowers and blueberries on the nose. [...]
May 13, 2021
Produced in conjunction with renowned wine consultant Michel Rolland, this beauty – from Mendoza, Argentina – is a real blendy blend: 52% Malbec, 21% Merlot, 15% Syrah, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. According to the [...]
April 21, 2021
The wine retailer, VinoMofo, commented that “The wine itself is a half-native, half-international blend – 25% Nero d’Avola, 25% Nerello Mascalese, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot. The danger would be [...]