Tasting Notes

Tasting notes for individual wines.

Lieb Cellars and Bridge Lane wines

A Return to Lieb Cellars and Bridge Lane Wine

Lieb Cellars and its sister winery, Bridge Lane Wine, are located on the North Fork of Long Island, New York. And while we have tasted a fair number of wines from New York’s Finger Lakes AVA, we are novices when it comes to Long Island. Our first taste of Long Island’s North Fork came last year when we tasted these […]

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Food-Friendly Wine from Gonzáles Byass

Today’s Cellar Note takes us on a tasting tour of four Spanish wine regions: Rías Baixas, Rueda, Rioja and Jerez. All four wines are imported by Gonzáles Byass USA and all are priced under $20 per bottle. We received all four wines as tasting samples. After five generations in the wine business, Gonzáles Byass remains family-owned. What began in 1835 […]

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Brkić Greda Žilavka

There is something to be said for the comfort of familiarity. On the other hand, the exhilaration of new discoveries should not be underestimated. We recently discovered this for ourselves when we enjoyed a bottle of Brkić Greda Žilavka, both a new wine region and grape variety for us, with a delicious mushroom pasta dish that was also new to […]

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Jean Edwards Cellars: A Dream Come True

If ever I have heard a story of two wine lovers who made their dream come true, it’s that of Karen and John Troisi and their Jean Edwards Cellars. We recently sat down with the busy couple behind Jean Edward Cellars at their new tasting room along Sonoma’s Vine Alley. We talked Cabernet Sauvignon, winemaking and their love of dogs […]

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Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards: Celebrating Wine and Friendship

Today’s Cellar Note includes two varietal wines and a red blend that highlight the large number of grape varieties grown in Santa Barbara County. All are produced by Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, a winery established and owned by two long-time friends and their families. All three wines, which we received as tasting samples, are sourced from Lucas & Lewellen estate […]

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A Taste of Portugal’s Alentejo Wine Region

Are you a curious wine drinker? Do you have a keen eye for new wine regions, grape varieties or styles of wine? Then, if you haven’t already become acquainted, allow us to introduce you to the Portuguese wine region of Alentejo. This taste of five wines from Alentejo, which we received as tasting samples, includes one white and four red […]

Garofoli Verdicchio

Garofoli Verdicchio Times Two

Today’s Cellar Note takes us to the Marche region of Italy and provides a taste of Verdicchio, a grape variety closely associated with the region, which lies along the Adriatic Sea. We received both wines as tasting samples. 2017 Garofoli Macrina Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore, Marche — pale straw in the glass with generous aromas of oat […]

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Summertime Sippers from Hess Select

As I sit writing this Cellar Note today’s temperature is expected to break the triple-digit mark. Strategies to keep cool will be needed. Umbrellas will be up on the patio and the misters turned on. Something cool in the glass will be required. We recently received three wines as tasting samples that will do nicely. These wines will keep you […]

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Behind the Wine at Rombauer Vineyards

The Rombauer Vineyards’ tasting room is situated overlooking the Napa Valley in St. Helena on the top level of the winemaking facility that is built into the hillside. The area is wooded and beautifully landscaped. It is the perfect place to taste and enjoy the wines of Rombauer Vineyards. I love tasting wine like this: unhurried and in a beautiful […]

Tascante Ghiaia Nera Nerello Mascalese featured1

Tascante Ghiaia Nera Nerello Mascalese

Nerello Mascalese will forever be connected in my mind to Sicily and more specifically Mt. Etna. Not so much because it is, along with the white grape variety Carricante, the signature red grape of the Etna DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), but because the striking natural beauty of Mt. Etna. Several years ago we spent three weeks traveling around Sicily. […]