Oregon’s Willamette Valley is highly regarded for Pinot Noir. It’s an area well-suited for growing one of the most sought-after and difficult-to-master grapes on earth. Within the whole of Willamette Valley are six distinct growing areas, and each one brings different conditions to the table that allow for diverse expressions of Pinot Noir. Some of the most famous and highly sought-after Pinots from Willamette Valley are single vineyard wines and Estate Cuvees. Often, those are among the priciest selections too. By and large, these are incredibly distinct wines that are worth every penny they sell for, but they aren’t priced…
Author: Gabe Sasso
Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are the grapes most American consumers recognize as ones that New Zealand excels at. But that only tells a small piece of the New Zealand wine story. There are a number of distinct growing regions, and each shines by growing what works best there. In the Hawke’s Bay region, hearty red wines are the star of the show. Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon lead the way, followed by smaller amounts of emerging grapes such as Tempranillo and Malbec, which may yet play an important role in New Zealand’s second largest wine region. Earlier this year, I…
With spring in full swing, wine shops are chock-full of Rosé. That’s a far cry from even five years ago when only a handful of choices existed on most U.S. store shelves. Personally, I believe in drinking Rosé all year. Well-made examples are eminently food friendly, refreshing and simply delicious. However, it’s likely to take a few more years for Americans to become 365-day-a-year Rosé drinkers, so for now, I’ll have to be satisfied with the strides we’ve made to date. Rosé comes in a myriad of shades and styles. It’s produced from nearly any red grape you can imagine…
There are many wineries that tout their size, charm, family roots and boutique credentials. Sometimes it’s true; way too often it’s marketing spin. There are examples like that all over the wine world: Napa Valley has their fair share. But among wineries of all sizes and scopes there are some incredibly real family producers just waiting to be discovered by wine lovers. Smith-Madrone Winery, founded and run to this day by brothers Stu and Charles Smith, is among their number. If you visit (and you should!) it’s one of the amiable Smith brothers who will greet you, guide you around…
On my recent trip to Chile, I had the opportunity to visit Viña Santa Carolina. In fact this was the last winery we visited on a week-long press trip I took with Wines of Chile. It’s a funny thing about last stops. On the one hand, you could say they had the last chance to make an impression, and that’s true. On the other hand, between formal sit-down tastings, meals and extracurricular drinking, we tasted 30 to 40 wines on most days. After a while, the palate and the part of the brain that break down a wine get tired.…
Australia’s Henry’s Drive is precisely the kind of winery that I love. Not only do they release excellent wines at reasonable prices one vintage after the next, they also have a number of tiers within their portfolio. What that means is that you can purchase one of their entry-level wines for under $10; offerings that are by and large terrific everyday values. Then, presuming you’re looking for something to bring to a friend’s home for a nice meal or for a special occasion, you can step up a tier or two and find something else in their range that seems…
I just got back from a trip to Napa Valley and Sonoma County where I had a chance to taste tons of interesting wines. On each occasion that I venture out to a wine region I’ve previously visited, one of my goals is to spend the bulk of my time learning about producers I have yet to visit, or whose wines I’ve not yet tasted. But I also tend to pick a couple of places that I have been to previously, but haven’t visited in a long time, and stop in to see if anything has changed. This trip, one…
Ravenswood Winery makes a wide array of wines from various grapes. However, without question they are best known for Zinfandel. Their Vintner’s Blend is a widely available Zin crafted from fruit throughout California. At the other end of the spectrum are their highly regarded single vineyard wines, each produced exclusively from grapes sourced at one highly regarded site. Most of these small vineyards feature old vines with many decades on them, and often Ravenswood has been making wine from them for quite a few years. Right in the middle of those two categories is the County Series of Zinfandels. These…
What’s in a price point? Depending on your perspective (as well as your budget), it means quite a lot actually. There are occasions when most of us are willing to splurge because of a special occasion or noteworthy event. In other cases we may like a producer and want to try their higher priced wines because we love their lower priced offerings. However, more often than not, most of us are looking for a good value, that good-bang-for-the-buck, and the feeling that not only are we drinking delicious wine but we got it for a song too. With that in…
A while back I took a look at a trio of wines from Sonoma County’s Rodney Strong Vineyards. Those three wines were selections priced at $20 or under, and are perfectly suited for everyday drinking for a lot of folks. One of the great things about the Rodney Strong portfolio is that they offer well-made wines at quite a few price points. In my opinion, their forte is making wines at a number of different price tiers that offer value — whether they are in the $15 range, $75 range or anywhere in between. With that in mind I recently…