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A few nights after opening the two Dehlinger Bordeaux variety wines for us, Allan Bree followed that up with an 11 year-old Pinot Noir. We have much more experience with these, so in a way, it was like welcoming an old friend back in our glasses, even if we hadn’t had this particular vintage. We’ve never had a Dehlinger that we didn’t like, and this was certainly not the one to ruin that track record. Read the rest of this entry »

Both Friday seminars are presented in this post:

“We’ve Come a Long Way Baby!
The Past, Present and Future of South African Syrah”

2010 Rhonely Hearts Club

One of the best things about Hospice du Rhone is the world-wide focus of the event. Sure, domestic wines are front and center, especially from the Central Coast, but HdR has always celebrated the WORLD of Rhone varietals, both here, their home in France, and in all of the wine-producing countries in the world. So it was appropriate that HdR 2010’s seminar lineup kicked off with an in-depth look at South Africa, one of the oldest wine-growing regions, and yet one of the newest, too, particularly as a producer of high quality Rhone varietals and blends. Read the rest of this entry »

Rednecks and Red Rhones 2010

I came to see Danica Nekked, but all I see is the Geico Pothole

The run up to Rednecks and Red Rhones seemed particularly long this year. It’s hard to say what the reason for it is really. The genesis of my rural ennui could have likely come about from any number of events that Southern Man just don’t usually encounter, like the bone-chill’n cold winter, or four (count ‘em, FOUR) heavy snow storms and the ach’n backs that came with shovel’n out the gravel drive of the mobile home park to get to the Post Office to pick up the ol’ lady’s alimony check. But then, perhaps the strain of hav’n she-who-must-be-obeyed in tow and her forcing me to drive sober for three whole hours made my blood too cold. But then again, it could be that I was exhausted from having the sh*! shocked out of me every time I touch metal because of all the freak’n layers of wool I’m wear’n during Al Gore’s global warming meltdown just to ward off hypothermia here in the friendly, freak’n hospitable, used-to-be-sunny South – I dunno, but the usual trip to High Point for the annual gearhead and grape-must fest had a distinctly heavy feel to it this year. As I slipped and slid the SUV over hidden black ice that gave me a distinct sensation that I now had enough experience for driv’n a rig across Alaska’s ice highway, all I want to know is: Who in the hell ever thought this sticky Yankee white stuff was “lovely,” “dark” and “deep? Read the rest of this entry »

The wines of Burgundy are the principal feature of this release and in readiness for the approach of warmer summer months; there are several Rose wines from various regions around the globe available too. I also tasted a couple of wines from Bordeaux that are really tasty and will reward the patient collector. Do read on. Read the rest of this entry »

Our friends Shannon and Cortney Casey at MichiganByTheBottle are teaming up with four Lake Michigan Shore wineries, including St. Julian, Domaine Berrien, Round Barn Winery, and Warner Vineyards for the third Tweet & Taste Michigan event, and we’ll be right there twittering along with them. The first two virtual tastings were great successes, and this one should be every bit as much fun. Read the rest of this entry »

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When you consider wine growing in the Russian River Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are hardly the first two varieties that come to mind; Pinot Noir is the obvious first choice, with Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc vying for runner-up positions. So, when Allan Bree opened these two with dinner a few nights ago, I was more than a little intrigued to taste what they had to offer. Allan has shared more than a few Dehlinger Pinot Noirs and Syrahs with us over the years, but we’ve never tried any of their Bordeaux varieties, and these two selections, now at 13 years old, acquitted themselves admirably. Read the rest of this entry »

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Steve Edmunds’ reds aren’t the only wines he makes that are remarkably “Euro” in personality. Give them a few years in the cellar and some of his whites take on characteristics that might allow them to pass for white Rhones in a blind tasting. The two selections noted here, opened for us by Allan Bree over the past few nights, are perfect examples. Read the rest of this entry »

Stop in to visit Allan Bree (aka califusa) and you can always count on some corks being pulled from some most interesting and diverse (not to mention downright tasty) wines. Such was the case when we pulled into Sonapanoma after a short 9-hour series of flights from Day-twah. Read the rest of this entry »

It has been a while since I was able to make the trek back to London to taste and I was of course elated to hear upon my return that the feature of the release is Zinfandel and Primitivo. Sadly most of the Zinfandels were lame and lackluster. Perusing through the Catalonia catalog before the tasting was disappointing especially after the high caliber of Zin poured at the California wine show held recently in Toronto. High profile producers such as Ridge, Peachy Canyon, Pezzi King, Pedroncelli and Ravenswood were all pouring their best. Nonetheless there are some tasty wines and spirits to procure so do please read on. Read the rest of this entry »

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Marqués de Cáceres is, of course, widely known for it’s red Rioja line of wines, but their white and rosé bottlings also offer excellent QPR (quality-price-ratio). I sold a boatload of the 2005 and 2006 vintages of these two in a previous life in retail, and they’re pretty much always welcome at Gang Central. For whatever reason, the 2008s didn’t tickle our fancy the way they usually do; they weren’t bad wines by any means, but neither did they inspire us to go out and buy more after trying them. Happily, the 2009s hit the mark for us once again, and they’ll have a welcome place in our rotation of daily drinkers. Read the rest of this entry »