claret
Vintage Eve 10/2014 Sonoma Part One: First Time at Ramey and Mazzocco
I haven’t been to Sonoma in over five years. It’s a large wine area to cover and this time I focused on Healdsburg wineries that had created a buzz: Ramey Wine Cellars, Mazzocco Sonoma Vineyards and Winery, Seghesio Family Vineyards, and Mauritson Family Winery. (2018 update: Part Two, on Seghesio Family Vineyards and Mauritson Family…
Vintage Eve 9/2014: Planning For Healdsburg and Napa
I’ll be heading out to Healdsburg for the first time since 2008 soon, and in planning the trip I looked for wineries that friends had recommended and/or I liked their wines already – but have never visited before. I don’t post when I’m actually away, so this article is a precursor to the fun I…
Wine 101: A Quick Lesson on Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur
Accompanying the two wines recently sent to me for review was this message, “As you may know, Planet Bordeaux wines include 7 AOC’s – Bordeaux Blanc, Bordeaux Supérieur, Bordeaux Supérieur Blanc, Bordeaux Rosé, Bordeaux Clairet, Bordeaux Rouge and Crémant (sparkling) – and represent 52% of the Bordeaux wine region (270 million bottles in 2013). Overall, 13 bottles…
158 Family Winemakers Poured 750 Wines: Creating a BUZZ
An interesting thing that happens at large wine events: camaraderie grows as wines are consumed, people tend to become chattier and want to share their discoveries of the day. So instead of just keeping track of what I was digging at the Family Winemakers Pasadena tasting, I listened to the buzz coming from Santa Clarita…
The Do’s and Don’ts of Wine Tasting
I slammed shut my volume of Encyclopedia Americana and muttered to myself, “This makes absolutely no sense!” I had just returned home from seeing the latest Bond thriller. 007 was drinking a dark red wine which he referred to as a “Claret.” However, according to my research, a Clairette is a white Rhone varietal. Being…
Favorite Wines and Spirits of the Presidents
In November of 2012, George Washington’s fabled Mt. Vernon Distillery was reopened. Today a meticulous recipe of the popular 1799 blend by our first president, is taking the rye whiskey market by storm. I have it on good authority that the president’s whiskey was not only the rage of the day, it made Mr. Washington…
STARS OF CABERNET 2013: Winemakers and Their Wines
On November 13, courtesy www.LearnAboutWine.com, we sat in on a one-hour seminar delivered by Jean Hoefliger, winemaker Alpha Omega; Aaron Pott, winemaker; and Lars Ryssdal, General Manager, Ackerman Family Vineyards. And after a tasting of their wines we then enjoyed a tasting from top California (mostly Napa) Cabernet Sauvignon winemakers. So, without further adieu, lets…
Rusty Sly: Grape of the Night Meritage/Claret
For this Grape of the Night gathering the selected varietal was Meritage or Claret. Since we sampled French Bordeaux wines at our October GOTN, I thought that it would be interesting to venture to the New World as a comparison. It was interesting there were no labels that had the name Claret all were Meritage….