Articles

Continued Mornington exploration: Crittenden Estate – Peninsula Pinot Noir 2016

by  |  08-12-2018

Awhile back I’d written about an oddity that piqued my curiosity which was produced by Crittenden Estate on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. I’m not sure if that wine is a one-off, but it’s... more »

Üllo: Why the wine sulfites & headaches myth never dies…

by  |  06-12-2018

So as is typically the case, the claim was framed as such: “A wine filter that will make your pinot noir headaches disappear” and as always, the claim was most assuredly not true and probably... more »

VdT Castilla y León wines, for when DO doesn’t do it

by  |  04-12-2018

Perhaps you’ve never heard of it but the Spanish Autonomous Community of Castilla y León is the country’s largest. And no, it’s not Castilla y La Mancha of Don Quixote fame as that’s another region... more »

“Carinyena”, the original Carignan now free to be itself

by  |  29-11-2018

Carignan doesn’t see a whole lotta love. It’s most certainly no Pinot Noir nor Chardonnay nor Cabernet Sauvignon in terms of name recognition nor pan-global wine enjoyment. It’s not even at the level of Grenache... more »

A small taste of Málaga

by  |  26-11-2018

You are spoiled, simply spoiled, when it comes to wonderful food and drink in Spain. There are however those more spoiled than others and I posit that anyone in Catalunya or the Basque Country lives... more »

Sta. Rita Hills on the up. Tyler – La Rinconada 2014

by  |  20-11-2018

For anyone who enjoys lunacy as a past time, blind tasting is there or you to occupy your spare hours and potentially drive away any potential spouse. I do sympathize with people in this pursuit... more »

The definitive wine guide for Thanksgiving

by  |  16-11-2018

My Great Uncle George had Thanksgiving food and drink pairing down pat: “Everything tastes better with Budweiser”. Straight shooting and always to the point, you’d never have known George was first generation Portuguese given his... more »

Carignan abounds, Tomas Cusiné – Finca Barqueres 2016

by  |  14-11-2018

Sometime back, a group of enologists in Catalunya called, “10 Sentits” (10 senses) made a Grenache-based wine called “Cat Negre” that was culled from all 10 DOs of Catalunya (they nixed DO Cava as it’s... more »

The ever-mighty Xarel·lo. Recaredo: Turó d’en Mota 2006 & Serral del Vell 2008

by  |  29-10-2018

Perhaps it’s because t hasn’t popped up on #sommlife or the less-used but seemingly less annoying #awesomm. Or, perhaps it’s just that the punt volat (·) tosses people for a wobbly, but Xarel·lo is still... more »

What once was lost: Abadal – Mandó 2016

by  |  22-10-2018

When the spare thought allows, I often wonder how the vinous landscape of Europe would look today were it not for the scourge of Phylloxera in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. The root... more »