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“Off-vintage” wines can surprise you. Back when I was first exploring the wine world, I bought a lot of wines from good producers in vintages that were less than stellar, at least according to the vintage charts. Partly it was a matter of economics, as such vintages provided an opportunity to sample wines from producers that were simply too expensive in the more highly-regarded years. Plus the critics were always going on about how “there are no great wines, only great bottles”, and “vintage charts don’t matter”, etc. etc. So as I was exploring and buying wines from the great wine regions (mainly of France), I occasionally bought wines from vintages like Bordeaux 1979, 1980, 1981, even 1984; Rhone 1980 and 1981; red Burgundy 1979, 1980, 1982. Not all of these were really considered “off vintages” back in the day, but one look at today’s vintage charts would certainly make one think so.

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Being a “glass is half full” kinda guy, I like to look at my “unsigned free agent” status as an opportunity, rather than a handicap. Why an opportunity? Because I am more or less obliged to focus on QPR wines to fit our budget, and there are always plenty of those available from a variety of sources.

I stopped by Western Market in Ferndale a few days ago and was intrigued by a stack of this wine at a price that was just too good to pass up. We’re fans of Bonny Doon Vineyard, and we very much liked the 2007 version, which was priced at $22. So why is the 2004 available for half the price? My buddy Jarred Gild, manager of Western’s wine department, wasn’t around to answer that question, but these are usually the result of distributor close-outs, sometimes in conjunction with the winery. Whatever the case, I had a good feeling about this one, so I grabbed a bottle, brought it home and liked what I found. Read the rest of this entry »

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Happy New Year, friends! In what I hope will be an ongoing series, I offer up thoughts and recommendations for excellent, nicely priced bottles still seen on retail shelves. Read the rest of this entry »

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While perusing the wine shelves at Royal Oak’s Holiday Market recently, I was pleased to note that some of the places we visited in our recent Tasting Leelanau adventures were well represented, including the likes of Shady Lane, Chateau Fontaine and Black Star Farms. It’s good to see retailers who recognize the fact that our wines continue to improve and have achieved a quality level that no longer needs the caveat “It’s pretty good for Michigan,” and Brian Croze and Jeff Mar do a great job in that regard. Read the rest of this entry »

We have Gang of Pour charter member Scott “The Geek” Tobias pretty well trained these days. He knows that when he comes to visit and hang out on a night when there’s a Detroit Red Wings game on the tube, he should bring an appropriate wine to observe the traditional “Red Wings and Red Rhônes” theme. He did just that a few days ago, when he showed up with a bottle from one of our favorite value orientated appellations from the south of France. Read the rest of this entry »

Wineries covered in this report:  Tawse, Coyote’s Run, Ravine, Organized Crime, Foreign Affair & Alvento. The last three may be found here

Following on the heels of our adventures in the Leelanau, we decided to eschew American Thanksgiving and revisit the Niagara Peninsula to see what was new in the other exciting up-and-coming cool climate wine region within a four hour drive from Day-twah. Read the rest of this entry »

Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Lee and Siduri Wines have hit the big time with the latest Sadat X True wine connoisseur’s Episode 11 video. In the words of Sadat X, “Understand, I don’t make this sh*t up!”  Watch and marvel… Find Siduri Wines

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As has been previously reported on more than one occasion, we’re big fans of Tablas Creek Vineyard, and we finally got our first taste of this wine last week. The folks at Tablas Creek think that it’s flat out the best red they’ve ever made, which is really saying something, and all the big name critical publications gave it big numbers (95-97 RP, 94 WS and 94 Tanzer). We don’t do numbers at our house, but we did give it half an hour or so in a decanter and then we enjoyed it with home made saffron pasta noodles with a pork ragu. Read the rest of this entry »

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“More bigger bottles,” as the nefarious Ju-ju-be from Joisey used to say back in the day, and that’s just what I uttered when I saw a bin of these at one of our local Costcos about a month ago. It’s been a while since we’ve had anything from Schramsberg, but our experiences with their bubblies have always been quite good, so I did some quick calculation in my brain and figured that this was a pretty decent price and worth a try. (Winery SRP for 750 ml is $36.) I finally found the opportunity to pull the cork, and happily, both we and our guests that we poured it for were quite pleased with what we tasted, as it paired quite well with hors d’ oeuvres, pumpkin truffle oil soup and an arugula and blue cheese salad. Read the rest of this entry »

Having missed the last release, the one in which all the usual high end wines are sold, I am happy to report I am back in business and tasted a good deal of the wines from December’s single release. Interesting to note that six of the wines were corked including a bubbly and the Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel blend that I was eager to taste. Oh well, best wishes to all for the holiday season and enjoy your wines. Read the rest of this entry »