Novy Family Winery 2012 Papera Vineyard Russian River Valley zinfandel. Not yet released, price probably around $30. Aromas of blackberries, smoke and spice, followed by a mouthful of spice and black...
What’s the best food for pinot noir? We recommend Rendezvous Ribs with Lemon Brown Sugar sauce. Both are from Steven Raichlen’s opus Raichlen on Ribs, Ribs, Outrageous Ribs. Steven is...
Please welcome VirginiaWineFan and OregonWineFan to our WineFan family.
[Edited May 18 per a correction from Steve Burman of 3Steves Winery.] On June 1, we traveled to the Livermore Valley. Our excuse was that we needed to pick up six bottles of Steven Kent Cabernet...
If you’ve been reading this blog with any regularity, Roger Nicolas’s RN Estate Winery in Paso Robles will be familiar. Dante Robere in Livermore Valley, however, is a new discovery for...
This is part 2 of our review of the Santa Lucia Highlands gala on May 17. (Click here for part 1). Part 1 reviewed the top three wineries (Mooney Family, Loring, and Pelerin) and the best in show...
For those who need help, California Wine Fan is pleased to offer this flow chart to show you how to decide whether to have some wine. Cheers! (Thanks to Texas Wineaux @FriscoKid49 for posting this...
I was originally going to write one long review of the Santa Lucia Highlands 2014 Gala tasting, but when the story broke through 1,000 words, I decided two parts would be the best approach. On May...
May 3 was a special day at Artisan Wine Depot. First, and most important, it was co-owner and master sommelier Christine’s birthday. Second, she pulled together a unique setting featuring wines...
The best single malt whisky in the world is made in Waco, Texas. Specifically in a former welding shop under a bridge. Today, CaliforniaWineFan departs from our exclusive focus to honor the single...
[pullquote]“I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.” — Crash Davis, “Bull Durham”[/pullquote] After searching for a week, the quote to the...
Saturday, March 1, we seized the opportunity to visit Artisan Wine Depot’s new store in Los Gatos. The event was a tasting of German wines from the southwestern Rhine and Mosel regions. We...
Sunday night we opened two of Roger Nicolas’s blends, the “Cuvee des Trois Cepages” 2010 and 2011 vintages. The two could not be more different, each excellent in its own way...
After a tasting at Artisan Wine Depot, we were shopping the pinot noir aisle. On a whim we picked up a bottle of Luli 2012 pinot noir. We were very lucky. Luli wines are welcome additions to the...
January 11, 2014 was a memorable day. Ken Knox of The Henry Wine Group was pouring seventeen pinot noirs at Artisan Wine Depot in Mountain View. While chatting with him, we discovered that Pence...