Tasting Notes

Tasting notes for individual wines.

Kenwood Vineyard featured photo Rosé and Jack London Red Blend photo

The Certainty of Kenwood Vineyards Wines

During uncertain times a glass of wine can offer not only a sense of calm, but also the comfort of familiarity. Cue Kenwood Vineyards. Today we’re sharing two Kenwood wines, both sent to us as tasting samples. Kenwood Vineyards is a familiar name to wine drinkers in California and beyond. Kenwood Vineyards was established in 1970 as a family business […]

Windrun Pinot Noir featured photo

Windrun Pinot Noir: Delicious Memories in the Bottle

Wine has the undeniable ability to elicit memories of people, occasions and travel. Sometimes it is a particular variety, other times it’s the name of a wine that is so memorable. In the case of Windrun Pinot Noir it is both the name and the variety that hold special memories for me. So, as you might imagine, I’m pleased to […]

Gary Farrell Pinot Noir featured photo

A Celebration of Pinot Noir with Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery

We’re celebrating this #PinotNoirDay in true wine geek fashion with a tasting of three Pinot Noirs made by a winery with a history closely tied to Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. In fact, I’ve read in several places that Gary Farrell, the man and the winery, helped establish the Russian River Valley’s reputation for fine Pinot Noir. We received these […]

2017 Theopolis Vineyards Pinot Noir, Yorkville Highlands, Mendocino County photo

Theopolis Pinot Noir, Yorkville Highlands, Mendocino County

I hope you are ready for another wine day celebration, because Pinot Noir Day (#PinotNoirDay) is right around the corner on August 18. We want to make sure you have Pinot Noir in your glass so, to that end, today we have a recommendation for you: 2017 Theopolis Vineyards Pinot Noir, Yorkville Highlands, Mendocino County. Theodora R. Lee is the […]

Black Stallion featured photo

An Introduction to Black Stallion Estate Winery

Black Stallion Estate Winery is situated not far from the Napa River along the southern end of the Silverado Trail in Napa Valley’s Oak Knoll District. The winery makes its home in what was a large equestrian center called the Silverado Horsemen’s Center. There is more history to tell about the family that owns Black Stallion Estate Winery and the […]

Cellar 503 featured photo

Cellar 503: The Wine Club for a Taste of Oregon Wine

Carrie Wynkoop established Cellar 503 out of a passion for Oregon wine and necessity. Specifically, she looked for a wine club that curated wines from small, boutique wineries throughout Oregon and couldn’t find one. So Carrie put her enthusiasm and knowledge of Oregon wines together with her prior business experience and established Cellar 503 in 2015. I recently met Carrie […]

Colmant Cap Classique & Champagne featured photo

Celebrating Memories with Colmant Cap Classique

Several days ago we opened a very special bottle of wine: Colmant  Absolu Zero Dosage NV. Peter eased the cork from the bottle and poured both of us a glass. As we watched the bubbles rise in our glasses many fond memories of visiting Colmant Cap Classique & Champagne in South Africa’s Franschhoek Valley came back to us. There is […]

Wines of Alentejo WASP wines featured photo

The Alentejo Wine Region Takes Sustainability Seriously with WASP

Portugal’s Alentejo wine region is a warm one. João Barroso, Director of Sustainability for Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Program (WASP), recently told a group of wine media and writers during a teleconference that the region routinely experiences some of the warmest temperatures in Europe. It is also prone to drought. These factors coupled with climate change prompted the region’s wineries […]

Flora Springs featured photo

Recent Releases from Flora Springs

We’re sipping more white wine than usual this time of year and Flora Springs has us covered with several recent releases that hit the spot. And Merlot is always a welcome red wine even in summer. We received these wines as tasting samples. Flora Springs is a name that is familiar to most wine enthusiasts who are at all familiar […]

Ron Rubin featured photo

Wines from Ron Rubin Winery

Today we’re sipping a collection of wines from beverage entrepreneur Ron Rubin, which we received as tasting samples. In 2011 he purchased River Road Family Vineyards and Winery in Green Valley and established Ron Rubin Winery where he makes the Ron Rubin and River Road lines of wine. Ron’s path to winery ownership was not a direct one, but it […]