Merlot 101 - Merlot Tasting Notes News

Merlot Tasting Notes News

36 Hours in Sonoma County Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 11:46PMA visitor takes a look at a sculpture at Capture Fine Art Gallery, in Healdsburg, Calif. More Photos »
Keep rose on the table in autumn, too Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 11:11PMShadows are growing longer and days are growing shorter, but don't for a second think summer is over -- even if the kids are heading back to school.
36 Hours in Sonoma County Thursday, August 26, 2010 @ 3:24AMLow-key Sonoma County combines a freethinking tradition with upscale shops, galleries and Old World restaurants.
Pairing wines and dishes precedes a successful evening of dining Sunday, August 22, 2010 @ 6:23AMWhen most of us plan a dinner, we choose the menu, then figure out which wines to serve. When Peter Mondavi Jr. comes to town, the process gets reversed.
Chateau Plantsville? Saturday, August 21, 2010 @ 10:23PMWinemakers Bill DellaVecchia, left, and Carmine Votino of Southington hold their award winning white wines produced in Votino's wine room in Southington August 17, 2010. The 2008 chardonnay held by DellaVecchia won second place and the 2009 muscat held by Votino placed first at this year's Italian Festival in Southington.
Real Housewives of D.C.: The Best People in Washington [Recaps] Friday, August 20, 2010 @ 12:17PM# recaps Part Three of our adventure to the bog hell that is Washington D.C. brought us to a vineyard, to a fancy dinner, to the antechambers of hotels, to the Dupont Circle metro stop, and to Paris, France. Woo-Hoo? More »
First stop on the tour Tuesday, August 17, 2010 @ 12:15AMThe newly expanded and renovated Gray Monk Estate Winery is a don’t-miss stop during your Okanagan wine tour this season.
Club Celebrates Wine’s Diversity Tuesday, August 3, 2010 @ 4:44PMGetting caught up in the swirl of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, cabernet, merlot, pinot noir swirl is easy.
Corkheads: Oakland's Cerruti Cellars joins East Bay wine trail Wednesday, July 14, 2010 @ 2:10AMFour decades after he sold his family's vegetables at the Oakland Produce Market, John Tudal has built Cerruti Cellars, a family winery a block away from that market. And he's hoping Oakland will be as good for his cabernet as it was for his kale.
On Wine: Report from the Central Coast Wine Competition Wednesday, July 7, 2010 @ 3:10AMLaurie Daniel offers judging tidbits from the Central Coast Wine Competition.
Pinot chic Tuesday, July 6, 2010 @ 11:39PMDespite cranky reputation, pinot noir finds welcome home in California Despite cranky reputation, pinot noir finds welcome home in California.
Chateau Angelus taking flight Tuesday, June 29, 2010 @ 2:56AMMy impression of Chateau Angelus has always been of the finest quality St. Emilion wine and very expensive.
Yakima Valley producing notable grapes, and wines Monday, June 28, 2010 @ 4:01PMA few months ago I talked about Washington's Red Mountain Appellation, where the climate and ge
Northwest Wine: G is for Grenache and grilling Wednesday, June 23, 2010 @ 12:17AMGrenache is one of those grapes that wine enthusiasts may not be very familiar with. That's too bad because it's a great summer red that goes well with many different grilled foods.
Dirty Laundry – Good Clean Fun In a Bottle Monday, June 21, 2010 @ 12:19PMWhen you drop into Dirty Laundry, it isn’t just a wine tasting, it’s a wine party! Dirty Laundry, the cheeky, fresh and lively winery on Bottleneck Drive in Summerland boasts of the town’s first Chinese laundry, reportedly with the brothel located above, and they take full liberty with the theme.
Moonlight and Magic at Chandra Monday, June 21, 2010 @ 12:04PMIt is no easy feat to become an organically certified winery. It takes dedication in the vineyard and extreme care in the wine making process.
La Dolce Vita at La Stella Winery Monday, June 21, 2010 @ 12:03PMLa Stella Winery pays attention to every detail that ensures guests have a profound experience. The blue granite tasting bar and hand blown glass light fixtures, all from Italy, increase the feel of being in a quaint Tuscan villa.
Golden Beaver has a Heart of Gold Monday, June 21, 2010 @ 11:49AMGolden Beaver Winery continues to focus on delivering unique wines as they move into their fifth vintage. The winery was previously known for their vast selections of both red and white varietals.
The Wild Goose Group Introduces Blanc de Noir – a Fabulous New Rosé Monday, June 21, 2010 @ 11:19AMThe words “great wine” and “reasonably priced” aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. And the folks at Wild Goose Vineyards continue to prove it, year after year.
Sanduz crafts both fruit and grape-based wines Monday, June 21, 2010 @ 11:04AMThe Fraser Valley is now home to a number of wineries that are within an easy hour drive from Vancouver.
Patara (Beauchamp Place) Monday, June 14, 2010 @ 3:17PMPatara is a chain of elegantly designed Feng Shui restaurants that offer a delight of Thai cuisine including raw tuna with lemongrass, sea bass, prawn curries and countless amounts of cashew, coconut and chilli based dishes. A takeaway menu is also provided.
Seek out special finds for your dad Monday, June 14, 2010 @ 7:38AMWith his current release of Syrah, Ross Hackworth of Nichol Vineyards has made a wine that has loads of up-front fruit with cherry, anise and black pepper on a broad and juicy palate before a lengthy, generous close.
[cover] Amazing Grapes : San Bernabe Vineyard, the third largest in the world, combines mass with class. - Monterey ... Thursday, June 10, 2010 @ 2:24AMWinemaking in Monterey County isn’t pretentious. We don’t put on airs like counties to our north, and our grape growers are farmers, not Silicon Valley execs-turned-vintners. Here, it’s more toe-in-the-dirt. Winemaking is humble; it’s about farming and reading the land, and for some, it’s a way of life. So perhaps it shouldn’t be that surprising that the largest vineyard in the U.S. – the third ...
It's the right time to enjoy rosé Monday, June 7, 2010 @ 7:38PMThe Meyer Family Vineyards Gamay Rosé 2009 — a slamdunk with just about anything.
Plantagenet powers on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 @ 11:45PMVine variation is alive and well at Plantagenet.
Dining Notes: Grimaldi's comes to Bell Tower in south Fort Myers Wednesday, June 2, 2010 @ 7:03AMGrimaldi's Pizzeria, which boasts more than 100 years of pizza-making tradition, will open this fall at the Bell Tower Shops.
The Capital Grille Uncorks Exclusive Master Wine Tasting Event With Hand-Selected Vintages From Leading Master Sommelier Tuesday, June 1, 2010 @ 7:00AMThe Capital Grille announced today the return of the popular Master Wine Tasting Event, which will showcase a robust collection of remarkable wines hand-selected by one of the world's few Master Sommeliers, George Miliotes. Â This one-of-a-kind event will offer wine enthusiasts the rare opportunity to sample well-known vintages as well as insider wines they'll want to know, from five of the ...
It's the right time to enjoy rosé Monday, May 31, 2010 @ 3:30PMThe Meyer Family Vineyards Gamay Rosé 2009 — a slamdunk with just about anything.
Super wines of St. Supery Sunday, May 30, 2010 @ 5:44AMThe Skalli family, owners of St. Supery winery in Napa Valley, bring a wealth of experience in the wine business. Robert owns and manages the company and is descended from ancestors who started the business by growing grapes and making wine in Algeria in the 1920s. Robert is an innovator who helped convince vintners in the Languedoc to label wines by varietals instead of the French tradition of ...
Head north for tasty discoveries Sunday, May 23, 2010 @ 9:30PMGearing up for your summer wine tour? While the South Okanagan is (deservedly) getting all kinds of attention, there's still no shortage of good reasons to head north, with new wineries and some seriously good dining all meriting attention.
Wine and Spirits / Italian newcomers Wednesday, May 19, 2010 @ 11:35AMConsidering that serious wine critics taste anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 wines a year, some of them costing the equivalent of $300 or more, no critic in the world can afford to buy all of the wines he or she tastes. That's why so many attend trade exhibitions and tastings and visit wineries.
First stop on the tour Monday, May 17, 2010 @ 1:16PMThe newly expanded and renovated Gray Monk Estate Winery is a don’t-miss stop during your Okanagan wine tour this season.
Stimmell: Top 10 Ontario wines so far this year Monday, May 17, 2010 @ 7:59AMGord Stimmell's sampler of the best Ontario wines he's encountered in 2010 so far. Not his usual best-buy approach — these are simply his top 10.
Wine: South Africa's Fruity shiraz at a fair price Monday, May 17, 2010 @ 3:12AMSouth Africa has made wine for more than three centuries, but the United States banned the wines for decades because of the country's apartheid policies.
Gord’s Top 10 Ontario Wines Sunday, May 16, 2010 @ 11:14PMIn recent weeks I’ve had the pleasure of judging several tiers of Ontario’s latest wines. First, the top wines at Cuvée in February. Then a tasting of 65 of our top flight chardonnays whose winners are winging to London for judgment by UK wine critics in May. And finally, I got to sip and spit through both ignoble and great wines among the 497 entries for this year’s upcoming Ontario Wine Awards.
A wine tasting on a budget Sunday, May 16, 2010 @ 5:43AMWe recently conducted a wine tasting for a group of people with the theme of suggesting some of our favorite, stand-by wines that were reasonably priced. It was a good opportunity for us to reflect on the great discoveries we have made over the past couple of years. These wines represent excellent value and still manage to deliver world-class flavors. They also were an opportunity to introduce ...
Wine and Spirits / Recanati's collector's item Thursday, May 6, 2010 @ 5:07PMThe Recanati winery, established in 2000, is located in the Hefer Valley in the north part of the Sharon region. It relies on grapes from its own and contract vineyards, primarily in the Upper Galilee.
The wonderful, aromatic white wines from 2009 arriving Thursday, May 6, 2010 @ 10:56AMWhat: Tawse Winery. Where: 3955 Cherry Ave., Vineland. Winemaker: Paul Pender with Pascal Marchand as lead consultant. What: Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery. Where: 1469 Pelham Rd., St. Catharines. Winemaker: Ron Giesbrecht.[...]
Aromatic white wines from 2009 arriving Thursday, May 6, 2010 @ 10:50AMLINCOLN — Living through the summer of 2009, with a steady stream of wet, cool weather, one could only wonder what would become of the wines made from grapes grown in that forgettable vintage. I have tasted quite a few Rieslings from 2009 and, so far, am amazed at the quality these wines are [...]
Hopland Passport: Spring Fever Fix Sunday, April 25, 2010 @ 2:21AMWine Notes As the days lengthen, the air warms, grapevines bud and a bazillion wildflowers bloom, I feel an outbreak of spring fever.
Quality Italians Saturday, April 24, 2010 @ 6:59PMThese blue chips will only appreciate over time.
More wines go organic, if covertly Saturday, April 24, 2010 @ 2:10AMIf you've been trying to buy more organic items lately but have had trouble finding organically grown wines, we've got a dirty little secret for you.
Wine: Vouvray worth a second, sweeter taste Thursday, April 8, 2010 @ 4:34AMMany years ago, I turned up my nose when tasting Vouvray, finding it simple and sweet.
Spanish wines lead value parade, including red from Priorat Saturday, April 3, 2010 @ 3:37AMSpain steals the show in the Vintages wines pouring into stores this morning. And it’s about time. Sure, if you crunch my tasting notes of the 103 wines in this release, two non-Spanish reds outscored all the rest. One is from Sonoma, the Gallo...
Celebrate Earth Hour at Concannon Vineyard, Saturday, March 27, 2010 Concannon Vineyard goes "Unplugged" for Earth Hour Tuesday, March 23, 2010 @ 7:00AMJohn Concannon, 4th Generation Vintner, Concannon Vineyard, announced today that Earth Hour 2010 will be celebrated at the winery on Saturday, March 27 from 8:30-9:30pm. "To celebrate Earth Hour, we invite everyone to join us as Concannon Vineyard goes 'unplugged' for Earth Hour," says John. "Earth Hour is a way for people across the world to join together and signal their concern about climate ...
Wine value out of the box Monday, March 22, 2010 @ 9:02AMCask wine versus the bargain bottles - which will reign supreme? Tony Love stages the ultimate challenge.
Wine, perfume mix for a lovely bouquet Friday, March 19, 2010 @ 8:10PMWhen Kelly Podorsek talks about wearing wine, she doesn't meanspilling merlot down the front of a white shirt.
Side Bar: Just Drink It Wednesday, March 17, 2010 @ 11:27AMThe most obvious “winners” at this year’s Benvenuto Brunello were the small, family estates – I tasted many good wines from them.
On Wine: Pinot noirs to gladden the heart -- and palate Wednesday, March 17, 2010 @ 3:14AMWine critic Laurie Daniels checks in from the World of Pinot Noir tasting.
Wine and Spirits / The grape doesn't fall far from the vine Tuesday, March 9, 2010 @ 6:50PMNot too long ago, I received a phone call from Yair Margalit suggesting that it was time for me to visit his Margalit Winery near Hadera. That Margalit was calling from Antarctica, where he was on a cruise, was enough to impress me that something important might be happening.