Very pleased to be trying four new-to-me wines from the Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez: a Blanc de Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon all with the same winemaker and farmer though different vineyards. When I received the samples I also asked the owner who happens to be the farmer, James Ontiveros, for…
A few weeks ago, at the grand re-opening of D’Agostino’s Trattoria in Las Vegas, I was introduced to Fallendown Tree Vineyards proprietor and vintner Jeanne Burmeister. It was a busy night for Jeanne as her wine table was very popular. I enjoyed their award-winning and very balanced Sangiovese, Syrah and Malbec all from Monterey County,…
This past summer I was in Portugal for the second time. During both visits I searched out wines from the Alentejo DOC to drink as they are always winners for me. Fancy my thrill at being offered two wines from the area to review when we got home. I ran a news release from the…
Apparently I’ve opened the floodgates to review canned beverages, lol, it only seems that way. The truth is I’ve only reviewed two canned alcoholic beverages this summer and it’s probably because I can’t accept any wine delivered for review until mid-October due to the heat. Moving on, today it’s Jetway Hard Seltzers up for review…
If you’ve been following my reviews for any length of time you know that I started sharing my wine notes well over ten years ago, about the same time I first met winemaker Gerard Zanzonico at Napa’s Del Dotto. We’ve shared many wonderful wines of Gerard’s over the years, and when he finally retired to…
Received some new-to-me Napa red wines for review, and the accompanying news release below. This “vice” wine sounded fun, as did sampling the trio of reds that go into their blend. Though these were unsolicited samples, aka free for review, I would buy any of these wines. My favorites were The Tri Blend and the…
We were initially planning to continue this series on lighter wines that we are enjoying at home with some more Northern California wineries, but the recent collaboration with Eve reviewing some rosés pointed Karen and me in another direction. We drink rosés all year long but I realize that some wine drinkers especially fancy them…
Let’s talk wine scores. If you have been to our tasting room, you probably have noticed that we do not talk about wine scores. That doesn’t mean that we don’t pay attention to wine scores and read reviews, but we trust our own palates. When it comes to wines from Sta. Rita Hills, we have…
The wine industry is one often shrouded in mystery and sophistication; sommeliers swish the liquid around in their mouths, speaking of notes and taste lengths as if they were alchemists, so it makes a certain amount of sense that the field can be intimidating. Luckily for DTLA, Santa Clarita Valley’s Eve Bushman has come to…
I don’t usually get much wine delivered during the summer months, only two French whites slipped through before the temperature veered up into the 90s. I also received a non-fiction book about spirits that peeps might find interesting: “PROOF” The Science of Booze In this comprehensive book about all types of spirits by Adam Rogers,…