Margerum Wine Company Riviera Rosé Reserve 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…
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Margerum Wine Company Riviera Rosé 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…
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Jamie Slone Wines Lozier 2014 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…
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Clos Mogador Priorat 2013 In an arid and magical place, French monks discovered “Eden’s Ladder”, Escala Dei (12th century). It was here that they made the Lord’s wine. In this very same arid place, 800 years later, a young French woman and a Catalan man, Isabelle and René Barbier, found the place of their dreams, Clos Mogador. René Barbier led the original Priorat movement, proving that exciting and unique fine wines could be made in this forgotten corner of Spanish Catalonia. At Clos Mogador, he nursed back to life abandoned old vineyards planted on steep hillsides, where the ancient Grenache and Carignan vines had learned to struggle against the aridity…
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Chevalier Marlène & Nicolas Crozes-Hermitage 2014 Crozes-Hermitage wraps around the base of the great hill of Hermitage, capturing a snippet of its famed neighbor, more approachable earlier in age. Hermitage named in the 13th century, when an injured knight returned from the Crusades and the Queen gave him permission to build a small home, or “hermitage,” for his recovery at the top of this hill. Today, the most revered and costly wines of the Northern Rhône hail from this hallowed ground. This small production 2014 Crozes-Hermitage is crafted by an under-the-radar producer destined to become a household name. While examples from Hermitage can easily soar past $100 a bottle, Nicolas…
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I’Avi Arrufi Vi de guarda 2008 L’Avi Arrufi is an estate-bottled wine made by Celler Vinos Piñol with organically grown grapes in the high elevation region of Terra Alta, located south of Barcelona. The Piñol family has been wine growers for four generations. L’Avi Arrufi means, “Grandfather Arrufi,” the man who founded Celler Piñol in 1945. Today, less than 800 cases are produced of one of the family’s most distinctive wines, made from organically grown vines over seventy years old. L’Avi Arrufi is “liquid geography,” a wine that sings the special music of Terra Alta’s terroir composed of phrases and notes of the specific flavors of the Mediterranean climate. The…
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Robert Mondavi 2012 Napa Merlot Robert Mondavi Winery, located in Oakville, CA, makes a number of outstanding and consistent quality wines and established his winery in 1966 with a vision to have his Napa Valley wines to be among the world’s finest. Robert Mondavi also believed his wines should reflect its “roots” and be a signature creation from a combination of the soil, climate and production techniques, both new and old, which transforms the grapes into a fine wine. Opening a bottle of 2012 Napa Merlot, I noticed a dark red color, almost purple with blue and black fruit aromas. The wine is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet…
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The Prisoner 2013 Napa Valley Red Wine Established in 2009, The Prisoner Wine Co. emerged with the change in tenure of the Napa Valley red blend and the typical California Zinfandel. With over a decade of winemaking experience at Ravenswood crafting Zinfandel, winemaker, Jen Beloz started The Prisoner Wine Company along with a family of growers and a winemaking team to grow and produce a selection of premium blends, including Cuttings, Blindfold, and Thorn. The Prisoner was created and inspired by the drinkable “mixed black grapes” first made by the Italian immigrants who originally settled in the Napa Valley. In 2003 The Prisoner was launched and soon became the…
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Andrew Murray 2012 Santa Ynez Valley Watch Hill Syrah Andrew Murray fell in love with the emerging Rhône varieties, Syrah and Viognier, in the late 1980’s while traveling through France’s Rhône Valley. Leaving his UC Berkeley paleontology studies behind, he pursued his new mistress, Syrah, with an internship in Australia. His three-month tryst evolved into a 15-month romance with the famed Australian Shiraz. Returning to the states, he earned a bachelor’s degree in viticulture and enology from UC Davis’ renowned wine program, then founded his eponymous Santa Ynez winery and vineyard. Deep Ruby, almost inky, with concentrated aromas of dark fruit. The wine explodes with red fruit on the palate. …
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Château La Nerthe 2007 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château La Nerthe was born in the 12th Century around the time vines were first planted in the stone-strewn soil of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (literally the “Pope’s new castle”), the place the pontiffs chose for their summer residence when the papel court relocated to Avignon. The historic domains of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Château la Nerthe, has always been graced by the attentive care of its successive owners: men of firm conviction, aristocrats, and notable experts on Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Marquis Tulle de Villefranche, Commandant Joseph Ducos and La Famille Richard, have all contributed to the reputation for excellence that La Nerthe has acquired and maintained. Pouring a glass of this ruby…