2011 Pepi Chenin Blanc-Viognier
A very pleasant wine at a very pleasant price: easy to drink, pairing with a surprising number of food flavors. Highly Recommended (90).
Palate Press Wine of the Week – Hart’s Desire Cabernet Sauvignon
A stunner at this price. Highly Recommended (91-93).
Hart’s Desire
I stumbled upon Hart's Desire at the Waterfront Tasting Room (53 Front Street, Healdsburg, CA) during Taste Alexander Valley, 2012. John Hart and his daughter, Shea, were working the room. They were both marvel...
2009 Quaking Hills “Hidden Springs Vineyard” Viognier
The overall sensation is fresh and tropical. Drink with grilled shrimp.
Les Vins de Vienne: Working the West Side, Thanks to Pliny
Pliny the Elder, the Roman author, was a fan of wines from the Rhône Valley. Something he wrote nearly 2,000 years ago struck winemaker Pierre Gaillard, a student of wine history, as a tip for finding something almost incredible today: unused Grand Cru-level terroir in the heart of French wine country.
Tasting Two Decades of Viognier: Can this Grape Stand the Test of Time?
Twenty years ago, John Alban started Hospice du Rhône as an event to promote viognier wines. Over the past two decades it has come to be a global Rhône gala. So, it seemed rather fitting, on this 20th anniversary of HdR, to take a look at just how this variety, almost universally proclaimed as not age worthy, changes over time.
2011 Redux: Virginia Wines: Ready to Take Off … But Where To?
Editors' note: To close 2011, Palate Press: The online wine magazine will be featuring some of our top stories from the past year. Our sixth piece comes from Lenn Thompson, giving us coverage of the Virginia wine industry's continued growth and the future challenges the state may face.
Palate Press Wine of the Week: 2010 Stag’s Hollow GVM
Quite an unusual wine from this Okanagan Valley winery : a field blend of grenache, viognier and marsanne, pressed together and fermented together in oak barrels, thus creating an unusual, largely blanc de noirs, white wine. Coming from a cool vintage, it has an edgy, vibrant touch, combining the aromatics of Rhône varieties with a blend of lime and tropical flavors. Crisp, it also has good weight and a fairly round mouthfeel. creating a unique profile and balance. It is, at this point, a very young wine. A year or two in bottle will round it out, and it may well have several more years of life in it. Highly Recommended. RC