Notes about the wines we have tried recently.
Winemakers are a curious lot. They are always on a quest to identify unique vineyard sites and expressions of grape varieties. Every vintage brings with it unique challenges and opportunities to craft interesting wines. Kenwood Vineyards has introduced two white wines for winter sipping and beyond. We received both wines as tasting samples. Both of these wines are new additions […]
My travels to the Dolomites in northeastern Italy are limited to the wine in my glass. But I have to say that virtual travel is one of the great pleasures of wine. The Dolomites, with their jagged peaks, steep slopes, valleys cut by glaciers and alpine rivers, have created a complex terroir that defines Trentino-Alto Adige. Today we are tasting […]
The Paring has a backstory that includes winemaker Matt Dees and two of Santa Barbara County’s acclaimed wineries, JONATA and The Hilt. Through common ownership there is a connection to Napa’s cult wine, Screaming Eagle. Impressive connections. But when we receive wines as tasting samples for review we taste them without learning more about them than what is on the […]
This time of year we work red wines into our wine rotation much more often than in the summer months. Red wines just pair better with braised meals and chill winter evenings than salads and triple-digit afternoons. But until those very warm temperatures descend upon us in late summer, red wines will also pair well with grilled meats and veggies […]
Today’s cellar note takes us to one of our favorite vacation spots…Sicily. The prospect of sipping this delightful Grillo took me back to Sicily’s rolling hills covered with a combination of olive trees, vineyards, pastures and picturesque rural towns. It brought back memories of open-air markets, Baroque churches and arancini. Now I’m longing to return. A quick review of the […]
It’s always fun to revisit newer vintages of wines that we have tasted in the past. It’s an opportunity to evaluate a winery’s continuing quality and I always hope to taste the nuances that can come with a new vintage – though this can be a stretch for me. It’s also an opportunity to impress upon my tasting memory the […]
Today we are enjoying a taste of Australian wine history. It isn’t every day one has the opportunity to taste wine made from Shiraz planted in 1891 and made by the same family whose ancestors planted those vines, but that is the story of Kay Brothers Amery Vineyard Block 6 Shiraz. We received this wine as a tasting sample. Herbert […]
The Benziger name is one you likely associate with wine in Sonoma County. You might even know the Benziger family made a commitment to sustainable, organic and biodynamic viticultural practices in Sonoma long before the ideas were fashionable. Today we are tasting two Benziger Estate wines that are Demeter-certified Biodynamic® and celebrate the family’s dedication to biodynamic viticulture and winemaking. […]
Today we’re taking a quick trip to northern Spain’s Navarra DO (Denominación de Origen) situated south of the the Pyrenees Mountains. The region is known for its bright rosé wines, a small amount of white wine and predominantly red wines made using Tempranillo and Garnacha along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. These are wines for every season to serve with […]
Few wines really speak of a region or variety to me (no fault of the wines, but rather a lack of skill on my part), but this wine did. As I sipped it initially I felt certain it was Nerello Mascalese. Something about the combination of fruit and earth just made me think of the wines we tasted around Mt. […]
We enjoy wine, food and travel. Pull That Cork is a chronicle of our wine adventures, the food and wine pairings we create and our travels which are increasingly organized around wine.
