Tasting Notes

Tasting notes for individual wines.

Bell Wine Cellars featured photo of eight small bottles of wine on a table with fountain in the background

Bell Wine Cellars: Cabernet Clone Specialists in Napa Valley

Cabernet Sauvignon is so well known in the wine world it is on a first-name basis with most wine enthusiasts. Napa Valley, a wine region also on a first-name basis with many wine enthusiasts, undeniably specializes in Cabernet. And true Napa Cabernet lovers know the vineyards and sub-appellations by heart, but what about Cabernet Sauvignon clones? That’s a less common […]

Hardys Tintara featured photo of two wine bottles on a table with trees in the background

Hardys Tintara: A Name That Recalls the History of Wine in McLaren Vale

The history of Hardys Wines reaches back nearly as far as the first vineyard plantings in Australia’s McLaren Vale and over the years Hardys has undergone about as many changes as the region itself. Hardys currently makes six ranges of wines under the Hardys label, most of which carry names from Hardy family history. Today we are tasting two wines […]

Photo of BARRA of Mendocino Fall 2023 Release Reserve Wines on a table

BARRA of Mendocino — Blending Family and Certified Organic Wines

How do you choose the wines you purchase? We all have different criteria, but the bottom line is the wine must taste good and it must be affordable. Wines made by BARRA of Mendocino definitely fulfill both of those requirements, and you get organic certification, family ownership and attractive labels for no extra charge! Today we’re tasting three new reserve […]

Featured photo of Brunello di Montalcino, Bolgheri and Bolgheri Superiore on table with trees in the background

Brunello + Bolgheri: A Taste of Tuscany’s Old and New

The story of Brunello di Montalcino and Bolgheri wines provide an interesting contrast between Tuscan regions that have achieved their prestige in very different ways — one through the embrace of tradition and a local variety and the other by throwing off tradition and embracing international varieties. The wines are very different, as you would expect. We received these wines […]

Photo of two Limoux sparkling wines made by Domaines Paul Mas on table with garden in background

Limoux Sparkling Wine: Bubbles and History in Your Glass

I think we can all agree that anytime is the perfect time for a glass of sparkling wine but, practically speaking, most of us are going to have more opportunities to enjoy sparkling wine as the holidays approach. This year, why not choose a sparkling wine with an interesting backstory in addition to those lively bubbles? Why not choose Limoux?  […]

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 […]