Author: Nancy (CSW)

Stony Hill Chardonnay featured photo

2015 Stony Hill Vineyard Chardonnay

Today’s Cellar Note brings you a taste of Chardonnay grown and made in the mountain appellation of Spring Mountain District. Spring Mountain District AVA sits above the Napa Valley on the eastern slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains that separate Napa Valley from Sonoma Valley. The Stony Hill Vineyard Chardonnay was provided as a tasting sample. 2015 Stony Hill Vineyard Chardonnay […]

Montes Wines

A Taste of Viña Montes

Today, Chilean wine, and quality wine at that, is everywhere. It’s easy to forget that wasn’t always the case. Back in the late 1980s when Aurelio Montes and Douglas Murray founded their winery, Chile was suffering through the final years of the Pinochet dictatorship and demand for wine in Chile was flagging. Chilean wines were sold mostly in Chile at […]

FEL Anderson Valley Chardonnay featured photo

FEL Anderson Valley Chardonnay

Anderson Valley winegrowers are cool-climate specialists. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer are the most-planted varieties in this northern California appellation. If you are a fan of sparkling wine, Anderson Valley has you covered. However, in today’s Cellar Note our focus is FEL Anderson Valley Chardonnay, which we received as a tasting sample. The Anderson Valley AVA is located about 100 […]

Domaine Bousquet featured photo

Blended Wines from Domaine Bousquet

Today’s cellar note brings you two blended wines from Argentine producer Domaine Bousquet. Right off the bat at least two things stand out about these wines, which we received as tasting samples. First they are made with organic grapes and it says so on the label. Yay! Second, Domaine Bousquet has no problem putting white blend and red blend on […]

Interntional Wines for Valentines Day

International Wines to Celebrate Valentine’s Day

On February 14 many boxes of chocolates will be given, jewelry will be exchanged, flowers will be received. Restaurants will be crowded with couples and groups celebrating love and friendship. Certainly, couples do not have the corner on Valentine’s Day celebrations. Singles will be celebrating the day as well, on their own or with friends. We will wear pink or […]

Vilarnau Cava

Cava. Are you curious about it? So am I. Cava is sparkling wine made in Spain. It is made using the same method as in Champagne (the second fermentation takes place in the bottle), but using mostly indigenous Spanish grape varieties. I’m a sucker for indigenous varieties, so I was curious to give Cava a taste and to dig into […]

Windrun Pinot Noir featured photo

Windrun Pinot Noir

As wine drinkers our connections to wine come in many forms. Sometimes we connect with the scenic beauty of a wine region, a winery location or simply the label on a bottle of wine. Other times our connection is more personal; it can be the winemaker, the person pouring that wine for you in a tasting room or the friend […]

Iglesia Bien Viaje in Remedios featured photo

In And Around Remedios, Cuba

The second leg of our people-to-people exchange in Cuba took us to the charming city of Remedios, just a couple of miles from the north coast of the island. But, before we reached Remedios, there was there was much to see in the rural parts of Cuba between Camagüey and Remedios. I discovered the small cities are just as interesting […]

Bila Haut Occultum Lapidem featured photo

Domaine de Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem

Our cellar note today reacquaints us with an old friend. Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem is a wine we have tasted before. Then, as now, we received this hidden gem as a tasting sample. Our review of the 2013 vintage provides background on the esteemed producer, Maison M. Chapoutier, and a bit about the wine region as well. Today we can skip […]

Au Contraire Heritance featured photo

Au Contraire and Heritance Wines

The expression au contraire takes me back to high school French. I remember my friends and I saying to one another with a laugh, “Au contraire, mon ami!” We thought we were so clever. As I read an email recently inviting us to receive tasting samples of Au Contraire and Heritance wines my thoughts drifted briefly to French class and […]