Pizza and beer; it’s a natural combination, right?  Like love and marriage, law and order and Laurel and Hardy.  But truth be told, it’s been years since we’ve indulged in those particular American secular sacraments at the same time.  On the occasions that we do eat pizza, we’re more inclined to open a bottle of Sangiovese or Zinfandel, but last week, we broke away from our norm with a visit to Amici’s Pizza and Living Room in Berkeley, Michigan. (Click image to enlarge) Read the rest of this entry »

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Champagne Warrior Brad Baker had been looking for the opportunity to stage a comprehensive tasting of Jean Laurent Champagne for some time now, and he and wife Michelle finally bit the bullet and set a date to do so on October 3rd . The tasting was held at their home and by my count, no less than 24 bottles from that producer, spanning four decades, were uncorked, either by the more usual method of pulling, or with a the blunt edge of a blade. Oh yeah, there was a whole lot of sabering going on and we’ve got the videos to prove it! Read the rest of this entry »

One of my go-to wine blogs is the Tablas Creek Vineyard Blog.  I’ve been a fan of Tablas Creek since 2006, when I had the chance to meet  TC General Manager Jason Haas and taste through several of their excellent wines with him.  The Tablas Creek story in itself is a fascinating one, and if you’re not familiar with how the Haas family (Jason’s father is wine importer and Vineyard Brands founder Robert Haas) and the Perrin family of Chateau Beaucastel joined forces to create the winery, it’s worth reading through my transcription of Jason’s account on that subject.  Read the rest of this entry »

Napa Valley’s Cornerstone Cellars sent out their samples packages to select reviewers last week, and we are fortunate enough to be on that list. We received four new releases, two each from their moderately priced Stepping Stone program and the prestige Cornerstone label. We published reviews of the previous vintages of the two Cornerstone Cabernet Sauvignons last May, and readers looking for further background information on this producer can refer both to that report and to Cornerstone’s own web site. Suffice it to say here that this is a well run, well-heeled operation that cuts no corners in producing the very best wines they possibly can, no pun intended. Read the rest of this entry »

We kicked off our 12th season of Red Wings and Red Rhônes this past Saturday night with somewhat mixed results.  The Detroit Red Wings played hard and for the most part, played well, deserving a better fate than a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, while the wine, a 2008 Domaine La Garrigue Côtes-du-Rhône Cuvée Romaine, was a solid performer in every way.  Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a long time coming and finally, we’re as pleased as we can be to launch our brand new Gang of Pour Blogs. It’s a move we’ve been wanting to make for a while, and now the time is right. Read the rest of this entry »

As previously reported, we’ve become fans of the wine department that Jarred Gild has put together at Ferndale’s Western Market, and as is often the case, a friendly relationship has developed out of that admiration.  We invited Jarred over a few nights ago and proceeded to spend a most enjoyable evening of good food (burgers grilled slightly past medium rare), fine wine and rambling conversation that covered a variety of topics.  Not shy in the least about expressing his opinions, he also has some interesting and ambitious ideas about where he’d like to take his career, but, for now, those are best left for another report.  For now, we’ll focus on the representative selection of wines that he brought along to taste from his retail shelves.  We started with two very nice whites. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s new at Vintages on October 24th? The focus is on wines from both the land of Oz and port from the Douro Valley. Here are a few notes on the wines from the release. (Click to enlarge images)

130278 PIRATHON SHIRAZ 2005, Barossa Valley, South Australia $38.95
Lots of toasty oak, cedar, smoked meat, dried herbs, forest floor and briar. There is fabulous structure on the palate, showing pure blueberry fruit essence, lively acids and a super long finish. Find this wine

10223 TORBRECK OLD VINES GRENACHE/SHIRAZ/MOURVÈDRE 2006 Barossa Valley, South Australia $20.95
A brawny wine that displays a dusty robe of dried mushrooms, blackberry, black raspberry, Szechwan pepper and coffee grounds. Powerful and spicy on the palate, it has good acidity and a long creamy finish.  Find this wine Read the rest of this entry »

Our friends at Wines of Distinction held their annual Fall Trade Tasting at The Franklin Grill in Franklin, Michigan recently, and as we’re such fans of their portfolio, we were not about to miss it. Our plan was to focus on two specific tables, those of J et R Selections and Hand Picked Selections; anything beyond those two very fine importers would be bonus coverage.

We started with some whites, first those being poured by our good friends Gary and Georgine Kahle of Hand Picked Selections.  Here are my snapshot impressions of what we tasted. Read the rest of this entry »

Not a lot of wines to review for this release as the board was rather stingy with the amount of wines it shipped to preview. Featured wines this time around are from Italy’s big three, Tuscany, Veneto and Piedmont. Few wines wowed me, but as always, there are one or two bottles that are worth seeking out. Read the rest of this entry »