Unoaked Chardonnay is fairly common, but the same cannot be said for unoaked Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet is almost always made by fermenting and aging the wine in oak barrels of various types and ages. Winery owner and beverage specialist Ron Rubin is clearly not following the crowd with his line of UN-Oaked wines; Pam’s UN-Oaked Cabernet Sauvignon recently joined Pam’s […]
Cabernet Sauvignon is so well known in the wine world it’s commonly referred to by just its first name: Cabernet, or even just Cab. It’s best known as a major component of Bordeaux blends and is successfully planted worldwide. Terroir in Chile has proven to be perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. At just over 99,000 acres, Cabernet Sauvignon represents 20% of […]
One of the many lessons I learned during weekly wine tastings at a local wine shop is that there are many very expensive bottles of wine that taste really good, especially from Napa Valley. It isn’t particularly difficult to find those wines, but what takes a bit more effort is to find those really good wines for less money. What […]
Bella Union is a brand that was established by the partners of Napa Valley’s well-known Far Niente and Nickel & Nickel wineries in 2012. The art of blending Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the focus of the Bella Union winemaking team, in contrast to the single-variety, single-vineyard wines of Nickel & Nickel and the estate wines of Far Niente with […]
Coeur de Vigne Cabernet Sauvignon is a delicious reflection of Napa Valley’s Rutherford sub-AVA and Sullivan Rutherford Estate. The estate was established 50 years ago, with the assistance of esteemed winemaker André Tchelistcheff, a friend of the original owner, James O’Neil Sullivan. This is the second vintage of Coeur de Vigne Cabernet Sauvignon we have tasted. As with the prior […]
Hawk and Horse Vineyards is situated in California’s Red Hills Lake County AVA. Seven Lake County AVAs surround Clear Lake, one of the oldest geological lakes in North America. The Mayacamas Mountains lie to the west of Clear Lake and the Vaca Mountains to the east. Complex soils in the AVA were formed by a combination of volcanic and tectonic […]
If you are familiar with the wines made by Jordan Vineyard & Winery in Healdsburg, California then you need no excuse to enjoy their wines. You already know Jordan’s focus is on two wines: Russian River Chardonnay and Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. You know Jordan doesn’t follow trends; their focus has always been on elegance and balance. In case you […]
The three wines in this tasting have at least three things in common: organic viticulture, Chilean origin, affordability. And all three wineries, along with Neyen, are sister wineries. We received these wines as tasting samples. Organic wine choices are finally becoming more common and more wineries are putting their organic certification on the wine bottle, though not all do. That’s […]
Including the word family in a winery’s name is the most direct way to indicate the enterprise is a family operation, but it’s certainly not the most creative way to do so. Eight at the Gate, however, might be the smartest way I’ve seen to include family in a winery’s name. How is that you might wonder? Well, when two […]
Brothers Stu and Charles Smith have been making wine on Spring Mountain above Napa Valley since the early 1970s. The mountainside location sets Smith-Madrone apart from the valley and so does the brothers’ winemaking style. They make Cabernet Sauvignon in an elegant, old-world style along with lively, oaked Chardonnay and Riesling — yes, Riesling, because they both really love Riesling. […]
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.
