With the summer heat in Virginia, you could often use a good bottle of refreshing rosé. But the important question may be: with the summer heat in Virginia, can they make a good bottle of refreshing rosé? Paradoxically, answering yes right now may have to do with the fact that
Joie Farm is certainly one of the most delightful wineries in the Okanagan. Their crisp whites and easy-drinking rosé and Passetoutgrain, evoking the Burgundian blend of gamay and pinot noir) are consistently some of the most pleasant wines in British Columbia’s wine country. Careful and well-controlled in their approach –
Elisabetta Foradori is a darling of the biodynamic/natural wine community. Renowned for her Granato, a remarkable cuvée made from the Teroldego grape, she converted to biodynamics in 2000 and gradually changed her winemaking to a more minimalist, "natural" approach. This is apparent in the 2010 Fontanasanta, made from a vinifera
If you think pinot noir from South America is inevitably too rich, too extracted and too ripe, you really need to get yourself a bottle of this subtle, balanced gem from Bodega Chacra, founded by Piero Incisa, scion of the family who brought you a little Tuscan wine called… Sassicaia.
It’s interesting to see just how loosely terms like “cool climate” can be used sometimes in today’s wine world. For instance, take this Kingston Family syrah from the Casablanca Valley, supposedly one of Chile’s coolest areas. The owners of the winery certainly insist that they are “cool climate,” even though
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
Combining the pleasantly mineral and grippy character of Carignane with rounder notes from five other grape varieties, this inexpensive offering from Bonny Doon is rather easy-going, despite the contrarian attitude implied in the name (which also refers to Contra Costa County, where most of the grapes come from). That contradictory
I first tried Pleiades, the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink blend made by legendary and idiosyncratic Marin County winemaker Sean Thackrey, back in 2003. On a visit to Chicago, a sharp salesman at House of Glunz, Chicago’s oldest wine store, easily filled my request-read more-