2011 Kelly & Young Sauvignon Blanc This wine is fermented in stainless steel, then aged in neutral French oak for four months. The nose offers a grassy aromas under fresh fruits, grapefruits with sweeter tropical notes. The palate is softer and more tropical than the nose, with tangelos and hints
From grapes grown on a patch of the vineyard named after the owners' son, this is a very pretty wine at a very comfortable price. The nose shows high-toned red fruit over blue fruit. On the palate the red fruit takes the lead, sweet black cherries up front, with tart
Imagine investing years of work developing and marketing a wine brand, and then being accused of infringing a deep-pocketed company’s trademark. It would stop you dead in your tracks. To minimize the risk of such claims, wineries regularly engage attorneys to review and register their brand names and logo designs.
2008 Shippey Vineyards "Flaming J" Petite Sirah The nose is dark, mulberry and black pepper. This is just as dark on the palate, with the same mulberries. There a loads of black pepper on the finish, paired with unsweetened chocolate. It is still young. It's big tannins are still rough,
As I strolled through Jean-Pierre Wolff’s vineyard, I found myself asking, “what do turtles have to do with wine?” My host gave a detailed description about the sanctuary for the Pacific pond turtle he had built amidst the vines while pointing out the numerous ladybugs fluttering around us. I pondered
Not many thirteen dollar Cabernets are worth keeping in the cellar. This is one of those exceptions. Black fruit is on the nose with eucalyptus and violets. On the palate it is high-toned, showing tart red cherries over the same black currants, but here is more - eucalyptus, a bit
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 marvelous, their knowledge and enthusiasm for the wines filling the room with excitement. A small but adventurous winery,
In every wine region there is at least one wine that manages capture one’s personal impressions of that region—its colors, smells, and the energy of the place. Sometimes, as I touched on a couple months ago on this website, the most visceral wines can be the most unlikely. In Friuli-Venezia-Giulia,