Just because we felt like it we opened the 2018 RN Estate Cuvée des Trois Cépages and 2019 Harmonie des Cépages. Both were excellent, with similarities and differences. If you’re not in a hurry, both are likely to improve in the next two years. But they’re excellent right now. (If you look closely at the photo, you’ll notice that the 2018 bottle is empty. We decanted it –...
Lando 2020 Truth and Valor Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. We featured Lando Wines in our review of the Palm Springs Pinotfest. Today we opened this baby. It has aged nicely. And it’s probably...
Our friends at Artisan Wine & Spirits invited us to a tasting of ten French wines. We eagerly accepted. The wines were a good sample of the many wine-growing regions of France. But technically...
A few weeks ago, we decided to try two bottles from Domaine Della: the 2018 and 2019 Sonoma Coast. Here are the results of the Domaine Della vertical. Normally, we like to hold wines from David Hejl...
Dusty Nabor is a character, completely appropriate for the Garagiste festival. Working with Karin Langer, his eponymous winery produces mainly syrah, grenache, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, and...
Just in time for New Year’s day, a recipe to warm your heart (along with other organs), as well as an option to bring luck in the New Year: New Mexico Green Chile Stew. I first tried this...
The day after Garagiste 2022 Paso Robles, we spent a pleasant afternoon with Roger Nicolas, proprietor of RN Estate Vineyard. After a lot of tasting and quite a bit of conversation, we brought home a...
And not a minute too soon! In the last few months we’ve managed to break two of our Garagiste glasses. That made attending the Paso Robles event an imperative. So we did. This is our overview. We...
All the chardonnays we tasted were very good. We thought Torch Cellars was the best, but the decision was awfully close. We were greeted by winemaker Mark Welch and his pal Alya. Along with owner...
Etnyre Wines is a close second for best pinot at Garagiste 2022 Paso Robles. They make pinot noir and syrah. We were greeted by Ethan and Karen Etnyre. Both were charming. Ethan’s knowledge of every...
Apologies for the all caps in the title. You’ll soon see why. Volatus had the best pinot at this Garagiste. Added bonus: they also have a chardonnay. Hal Schmitt, owner and winemaker, is a TOPGUN...
The Darwin Awards are awarded to people who have died because they made an incredibly stupid mistake. They have essentially removed themselves from the gene pool, giving evolution a big assist...
As regular readers know, RN Estate Winery in Paso Robles is one of our favorites. We have been wine club members there for longer than we can remember. Last night I discovered two 2019 pinots from...
What wine pairs with pickled beets? That question came to mind when I fielded a request for a pickled beet recipe. I’d say a zinfandel, preferably something that can stand up to the acidity...
Our friends at Maggy Hawk were kind enough to forward an invitation to this event. So on January 7 we checked into the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert right next to Palm...
