We all have a different favorite style of Chardonnay – just ask and we'll try to describe it. It might be easier, however, to track what we buy, which is often the same labels again and again. Some will only buy pricey Chardonnay produced from cool, Carneros grapes in California.
Readers of a certain age will remember Orson Welles assuring us in a 1979 TV commercial for Paul Masson – preserved on YouTube – that “we will sell no wine before its time.” But what is a wine’s time, especially a tannic red one? When is it ready? Not surprisingly,
Rombauer's 2014 Cabernet is a rich, luscious wine that would compliment a great steak or stand on its own as an evening sipper. It is inky black in presentation, with a nose and palate that tell all its secrets. Blackcurrant, toast, and vanilla exclaim Cabernet Sauvignon and new oak, but
Rocca's Grigsby Cabernet is big, beautiful, and delightfully complex. The color is very dark, opaque but for the very edges. Huge aromas roil up in waves - blackberries, black currant, and eucalyptus. The palate opens in layers, starting with black cherry, then shifting to black fruit on the mid-palate, adding eucalyptus
This is a powerful brute of a wine dressed in lace and finery. The nose smells like freshly-baked blackberry pie, with black fruit, pastry and vanilla aromas exploding out of the glass. The vanilla runs through the palate, as well, which is loaded with blackberry, mulberry, and blueberry. There is a
Can California wineries make Champagne? Of course they can! Over the past three years, at least four California wineries have started doing so. Before I get sabered by a regiment of WSET candidates for dealing in alternative facts, let me hasten to add that these Californians are making their signature
Eighty Four Wines is a new project from Doug Shafer, of Shafer Wines, and Elias Fernandez, Shafer's long-time winemaker. The grapes came from four acres they planted in Carneros in 2012. The nose shows honeysuckle, citrus blossoms, key lime and fresh peaches. Vibrant and fresh on the palate, barely ripe
This wine has one of those noses that almost makes you forget to take a drink. Aromas of orange blossoms, distant magnolia, and freshly-sliced pears all float up from the glass. Soft, round fruits lead on the palate, poached pears and mangos, with cut grass in the background. Pink and