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Uruguayan Wine: Tannat and So Much More

If you have had any introduction to wines from Uruguay it’s likely been Tannat, Uruguay’s flagship variety. I remember them for their firm tannins and complex, ripe fruit flavors. It makes sense that in a country where cows outnumber residents 4:1, and where grilling meat is a fine art (Uruguayans eat the most meat per capita anywhere in the world), […]

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Languedoc: A Small Taste of a Very Large Wine Region

Languedoc is big and it’s varied, which means there is a lot to learn to fully understand the region. We couldn’t possibly understand all of Languedoc’s appellations by tasting only four wines, but four wines can provide an introduction to the region that prompts further exploration. And each of these wines provides a short cut to its sub-region. We received […]

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Cabernet Sauvignon in Chile: A Taste of Two Regions

Cabernet Sauvignon is so well known in the wine world it’s commonly referred to by just its first name: Cabernet, or even just Cab. It’s best known as a major component of Bordeaux blends and is successfully planted worldwide. Terroir in Chile has proven to be perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. At just over 99,000 acres, Cabernet Sauvignon represents 20% of […]

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Smith-Madrone Vineyards & Winery: Elegant and Affordable, Always

One of the many lessons I learned during weekly wine tastings at a local wine shop is that there are many very expensive bottles of wine that taste really good, especially from Napa Valley. It isn’t particularly difficult to find those wines, but what takes a bit more effort is to find those really good wines for less money. What […]

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Hawk and Horse Vineyards: Organic and Biodynamic in the Vineyard, Delicious in the Glass

Hawk and Horse Vineyards is situated in California’s Red Hills Lake County AVA. Seven Lake County AVAs surround Clear Lake, one of the oldest geological lakes in North America. The Mayacamas Mountains lie to the west of Clear Lake and the Vaca Mountains to the east. Complex soils in the AVA were formed by a combination of volcanic and tectonic […]

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Coastal Chilean Sauvignon Blanc: Embrace the Variety

I was recently invited to attend an online presentation focused on Sauvignon Blanc grown in Chile’s cool coastal regions. The discussion, accompanied by eight coastal Sauvignon Blancs provided to us as tasting samples, greatly expanded my knowledge of the variety’s position in Chile and gave me a better understanding of its expression in this cool climate. The range of flavors […]

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Siduri Pinot Noir: A Taste of Oregon and California

Siduri is a name synonymous with quality Pinot Noir sourced from vineyards as far north as Oregon’s Willamette Valley and south to California’s Santa Barbara County. Adam Lee and his wife Dianna Novy released their first wines in 1994. Between that time and early 2015 when Siduri and Novy Family Wines (a second winery the couple established focusing on Syrah […]