PREFAZIONE I am blessed back here in the Washington DC area with what I consider the best local wine shop. Schneider’s of Capitol Hill is literally a couple of blocks from the Capitol. I cannot say the Red State lawmakers-read more-
A wine so rich, and so expressive of the essence of the region I told John Matta it should be called “Eaux de Tuscany” (the French not withstanding). Deep, dark purpose, almost opaque, with a nose of smoke and truffles.-read more-
Again, we tasted a slightly younger wine at the estate than the vintage currently available (2006). This is a bright, youthful wine but with plenty of weight nevertheless. Cherry, pepper, and earth come through on the nose. Chocolate and berry-read more-
The ’09 is not yet released, but is an absolute stunner. Tasted at a lunch with several of Olivier’s wines, so used the ’07 (an exceptional year in many regions of Italy) as a comparison benchmark. The ’07 was made-read more-
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-
A blend of 50% Montepulciano, 25% Aglianico and 25% Sangiovese, the first two from Suisun Valley. Mikael Wargin fermented the three varieties as separate lots using different yeast strains. He then blended and aged them a total of 8 months-read more-
Grown in Carneros and blended with about 10% Sangiovese, started with aromas of pepper, a mélange of oak and dill with briary, jammy fruit. Lighter in the mouth, the flavors were dominated by oak. The wine finished with light red-read more-
In preparation for Open That Bottle Night (live, only on Palate Press; Saturday, February 26 from 7 pm - 10 pm EST), contributing editor Howard Hewitt shares some information on the bottle he plans to open for the event. I was-read more-