Author: Nancy (CSW)

Photo of Copain blended wines on table with garden in background

Copain Wines And the Art of Blending

I most closely associate Copain Wines with vineyard-designate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. During a recent tasting at Copain, a vineyard-designate Grenache was also on the tasting menu. And, the tasting began inside with a sip of Picpoul Blanc to accompany us to our seated tasting on the patio. The tasting paired five wines with small bites and was a […]

El Coto de Rioja Blanco, Rosado, Crianza wines pictured on table with garden in background

El Coto de Rioja: La Rioja’s Largest Winegrower

Every winery has a unique story. Sometimes it’s the story of a winemaker who owns a small winery making wine from just a few acres of vines they might not even own. The story of El Coto de Rioja is the opposite — it is the story of the largest winegrower in DOCa Rioja (their own estimate) with wineries and […]

Photo of three McPrice Myers wines on table with garden in the background

A Tasting of Three McPrice Myers Cabernets

McPrice (Mac) Myers has been making Central Coast wines for the past 20 years. He started small, with only a half-ton of grapes, working out of a small cooperative in Paso Robles. By 2014 he moved to a property on Adelaida Road on Paso’s westside.  That 84-acre property is home to McPrice Meyers winery, about 20 acres of vineyards, the […]

Photo of book cover How To Drink Australian: An Essential Modern Wine Book

A Wine Book Review: How To Drink Australian

The full title of a new book by Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross is How to Drink Australian: An Essential Modern Wine Book. I recently received a digital copy for review and admit to falling headlong into the book.  How to Drink Australian is a detailed, regional introduction to the wines made throughout Australia. Australia’s wine regions are explored in […]

Photo of Thacher Winery Cinsaut Rose and Cinsault on table with garden in the background

Thacher Winery and Vineyards: It Started With A Wedding

When I read the story of how Sherman and Michelle Thacher came to own the property in Paso Robles’ Adelaida District, where they founded their winery, my first thought was how romantic; then I thought how decisive! Many of us may have attended a wedding in a bucolic location and maybe though wistfully about living there, but almost none of […]

Photo of Presqu'ile Winery Estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wine bottles on table with garden in background

A Tasting of Presqu’ile Winery Estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Presqu’ile is a French Creole word meaning almost an island and is the name given to the Murphy family compound on Henderson Point along the Mississippi Gulf Coast that had been a gathering place for several generations. In 2005 that idyllic place was forever changed by hurricane Katrina, but the fond memories of family gatherings and hospitality remain. When the Murphy […]

Photo of five bottles of Abruzzo wines on a table

A Taste of Abruzzo: Pecorino and Montepulciano

This tasting will not take us to Siena’s picturesque hill town of Montepulciano to sip the region’s Vino Nobile wines, where Sangiovese is the star, nor will it include a taste of Pecorino cheese. Instead, we are heading slightly off the beaten path to Abruzzo, located to the south and on Italy’s east coast, to taste Abruzzo wine made using […]

2019 Ettore Chardonnay Pure, Mendocino, California featured photo

2019 Ettore Chardonnay Pure: A Cellar Note

This post brings you a second taste of Ettore organic wines grown and made in Hopland, California, the southernmost town in Mendocino County. All Ettore wines are estate grown in their Sanel Valley Vineyards, which are certified organic by CCOF. We received this wine as a tasting sample.   2019 Ettore Chardonnay Pure, Mendocino, California — light golden with aromas […]

Photo of Domaine Bousquet Virgen and Gaia wines

A Taste of Domaine Bousquet’s Virgen and Gaia Wines

During an online discussion earlier in the year, Anne Bousquet, co-owner of Domaine Bousquet with her husband Labid Al Ameri, told the assembled group that Domaine Bousquet is the only winery in Argentina whose entire production is certified organic. Their annual production is about 7 million liters, which represents 65% of Argentina’s organic wine export. Domaine Bousquet is located at […]

Photo of seven Domaine Bousquet wines

Domaine Bousquet: Behind the Scenes at Argentina’s Leading Organic Winery

Describing Domaine Bousquet as Argentina’s Leading Organic Winery is a big statement, but once you learn how much the Bousquet family has achieved in the past 25-plus years you will be impressed. After you taste the wines and realize how reasonably priced they are, I think you will agree they are leaders in Argentina, if not the world.  Domaine Bousquet’s […]