Tasting Notes

Tasting notes for individual wines.

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 […]

Tyrrell's Wines featured photo

Tyrrell’s Wines: History, Semillon and Shiraz in Australia’s Hunter Valley

Before we visited Tyrrell’s Wines in October 2019, as part of the Wine Media Conference held in the Hunter Valley, I didn’t have a full appreciation for the history behind the winery. But standing beside the ironbark slab hut built by Edward Tyrrell, when he settled 320 acres along the Brokenback Range at Pokolbin in 1858, brought that history alive. […]

Tenuta Regaleali featured photo

Wines from Sicily’s Tenuta Regaleali for all Seasons

Today we are sipping four wines from Tasca d’Almerita’s Tenuta Regaleali. It is difficult to decide which qualities I appreciate most in these wines. All four are made using varieties indigenous to Sicily and all are 100% varietal wines. These wines are extremely versatile and will take you from summertime sipping all the way into winter. Then there is the […]

Smith-Madrone featured photo

Smith-Madrone: Elegant Wines from Spring Mountain District

Stuart Smith knew he needed to look to the mountains of Napa Valley, not the valley floor, to find a site that would allow him to make the elegant, balanced, acid-driven wines he enjoyed drinking. He found what he was looking for in a 200-acre property on Spring Mountain. The property had been home to a small vineyard in the […]

German Riesling featured photo

A Taste of Riesling’s Charms

Riesling is Germany’s most-planted grape variety and likely originated in the Rheingau. It is capable of making wines in styles that range from dry to sweet. Riesling is beautifully aromatic and so delicious, but the trick is figuring out if the wine will taste sweet or not. Today we’re tasting two Rieslings, both of which were provided to us as […]

Alta Colina feature photo

Alta Colina: Rhone Specialists in Paso’s Adelaida District

Bob Tillman describes himself as someone not content to simply pursue hobbies in retirement. But after listening to the story of how he came to establish Alta Colina in the Adelaida District of Paso Robles, I wonder if he might just pursue his hobbies with a bit more drive than most retirees. Bob didn’t discover wine until he and his […]

Ehlers Estate feature photo

Spring Releases from Ehlers Estate

This is the time of year we wine drinkers begin to step up our search for white and rosé wines for summer enjoyment. Cue the spring winery releases. We recently received these two new wines from Napa Valley’s Ehlers Estate as tasting samples and we are happy to share them with you. Ehlers Estate is tucked away in Napa Valley […]

Domaine Bousquet featured photo

Domaine Bousquet: A Name Synonymous with Quality Organic Wines

Anne Bousquet questioned her father’s 1997 purchase of nearly 1000 acres in remote Gualtallary in Argentina’s Mendoza region with humor, asking, “What are you doing? Buying a beach? All sand, no sea?” Well, Jean Bousquet has had the last laugh as Domaine Bousquet is now well established with certified-organic vineyards in the Tupungato district of Mendoza’s Uco Valley, a modern […]

Chalk Hill Chardonnay featured photo

Chalk Hill Chardonnay Paired with a Savory Tart

By Memorial Day the weather forecast predicts triple-digit temperatures. So that means it’s time to get white wine chilling. Conveniently, #ChardonnayDay always falls on the Thursday before Memorial Day as a reminder, in case the weather forecast doesn’t do so. Today we’re sipping a meal-worthy Chardonnay we received as a tasting sample. Chalk Hill AVA lies in the northeast corner […]