Opaque purple in the glass, with a nose of chocolate, smoked bacon, and nutmeg. (Chocolate and bacon is a great combination, in fact.) Opens up tantalizingly but with great promise on the palate, with long, expressive flavors of black currant-read more-
Somewhere between the richest and oakiest Chardonnay-like South African Chenin Blancs and the lighter, more fruit-driven styles lies this hearty yet refreshing white. The nose is reminiscent of orange-compote bread pudding: toasty and rather rich but with a pure citrus-read more-
“Rubber” has become synonymous with Pinotage, at least partly due to the power of suggestion. But you won’t find a hint of it here, even if you try. Aging in heavily toasted oak gives the wine an aromatic nose of-read more-
It’s one o’clock in the morning and I am helping sort pinot noir grapes under a not-quite-harvest moon at Freedom Run Winery on the Niagara Escarpment of New York State. It’s been a gorgeous, warm growing season, and the fruit-read more-
Creamy apples and pears slathered in toasty wood. The oak treatment is clear, even blatant. This is not a wine for those who prefer their Chards in stainless steel. For those who like rich, woody wines, though, this offers up-read more-
An odd, almost clashing nose of smoky bacon and blackberries, but not a lot of fruit there. At first comes across light on the palate with flabby tannins. It almost yells at you, “not home, come back later.” And you-read more-
The palate has plum, smoke, a surprising taste of apricot, but it is all wrapped in burnt rubber. The burnt rubber taste was overwhelming when it was opened, but moved more to the background after a couple of hours. Some-read more-