• California,  Santa Barbara,  Tasting Room Selection,  Viognier

    Tasting Room Selection

    Margerum Wine Company Viognier 2016 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends.  There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate.  It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time.  The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard.  I recommend to try…

  • California,  Santa Barbara,  Tasting Room Selection,  Viognier

    Tasting Room Selection

    Jaffurs Viognier Bien Nacido Vineyard 2017 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends.  There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate.  It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time.  The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard.  I recommend to…

  • California,  Santa Barbara,  Tasting Room Selection,  Tocai Friulano

    Tasting Room Selection

    Clendenen Family Vineyards Tocai Friulano 2015 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends.  There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate.  It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time.  The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard.  I recommend to…

  • California,  Santa Barbara,  Sauvignon Blanc,  Tasting Room Selection

    Tasting Room Selection

    Margerum Wine Company Sybarite Sauvignon Blanc 2017 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends.  There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate.  It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time.  The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard.  I recommend…

  • California,  Santa Barbara,  Sauvignon Blanc,  Tasting Room Selection

    Tasting Room Selection

    Jamie Slone Wines Sauvignon Blanc 2015 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends.  There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate.  It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time.  The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard.  I recommend to…

  • Aligoté,  California,  Pinot Blanc,  Pinot Gris,  Santa Barbara,  Tasting Room Selection

    Tasting Room Selection

    Au Bon Climat Estate Bottled White Table Wine “Hildegard” 2015 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends.  There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate.  It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time.  The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the…

  • California,  Grenache Blanc,  Santa Barbara,  Tasting Room Selection

    Tasting Room Selection

    Jaffurs Grenache Blanc Thompson Vineyard 2016 In the Fall of 2018 I took a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to visit a few selective wineries and taste some of their current offerings, particularly the Rhone blends.  There were four of us tasting wines and my comments, on each of the wines tasted, incorporate nuances from everyone’s palate.  It was a great trip, the wines were outstanding and the folks I met at each of the wineries were extremely informative, helpful and very generous with their time.  The wineries have “Wine Clubs” which offer some tremendous, small production, wines that can only be obtained directly from the vineyard.  I recommend to…

  • Cabernet Sauvignon,  California,  Cellar Selection,  Malbec,  Merlot,  Petit Verdot

    Cellar Selection

    Kathryn Hall 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Kathryn Walt Hall is the proprietor of Hall Wines and has been involved in the California wine industry since her family first purchased a vineyard over thirty years ago. She has had a distinguished career as a successful businesswoman, community activist, and including a United States Ambassador to Austria. Kathryn Hall and her family have been grape growers in Mendocino County since 1972. The Walt family owns 63 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc in the Redwood Valley and has sold their grapes to such wineries as Fetzer, Parducci and Beringer. Kathryn managed the family vineyard from 1982…

  • Cabernet Sauvignon,  California,  Napa,  Sonoma,  Weekend Selection

    Weekend Selection

    B.R. Cohn 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Gold Label Founded by Bruce Cohn in 1984, B.R. Cohn Winery is located in the heart of Sonoma Valley. Bruce Cohn bought the land now known as Olive Hill Estate Vineyards in 1974. The small family operated winery is surrounded by the 90-acre Olive Hill Estate Vineyards, where soils warmed by underground natural hot springs and gentle ocean breezes create a unique microclimate resulting in ideal growing conditions for outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon. This Gold Label offering from founder Bruce Cohn, who (for us older rockers) managed the Doobie Brothers, one of my favorite groups of the 70’s. Mr. Cohn, when not managing the Doobie Brothers,…

  • California,  Chardonnay,  Sonoma,  Weekend Selection

    Weekend Selection

    Sonoma-Cutrer 2013 Les Pierres Chardonnay I first became acquainted with Sonoma-Cutrer during a Sonoma wine tasting event in the 80’s and met Brice Cutrer Jones.  When I tasted his Chardonnay, in a word, outstanding, one of the best I have tasted, but that was a while ago.  The Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Ranches Chardonnay was my “go-to” Chardonnay until about the time Brice Cutrer Jones was no longer associated with the winery.  In 1999, Brown-Forman, the Kentucky-based drinks giant acquired Sonoma-Cutrer, and 2 years later fired Brice Cutrer Jones.  Since Brice’s departure, the Chardonnay was good, but not “outstanding”.  I have tried several vintages throughout the early 2000’s and was not…