Some late-night thoughts on blogging. I’ve been reading a lot of blogs recently. It seems that every website now *has* to have a blog, whether it’s a winery, a magazine, a merchant or an agent. Somebody gets lumped with the job of blogging, or more commonly a team of humans are needed to supply the …

This French sourced wine from the Languedoc is 55% Shiraz/45% Merlot and is eggplant in hue. The nose is full of cinnamon and spice with tart berry notes.In the mouth it is a bit astringent and awkward but the flavors of berries are nice.This is a solid drinking wine but a little coarse. For the p…

After receiving numerous inquiries about that wine Billy and I decided to grab a bottle and review it. Tis wine was so forgettable I had forgotten I reviewed a 2004 back in April. That one was French while that wine is sourced from Romania! I found it for $9 at a local shop in Minnesota. Even with…

Red Mountain produces a Cab feast! Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval and Taptiel vineyards all produce outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon. Why don’t we start at the top of Red Mountain and work our way down. Hightower competes with Taptiel winery for the highest spot on the mountain. So far Hightower’s best Cab c…

One of the wine regions I can’t get my head round is Chianti. I’ve had so many disappointments here, and so few memorable wines, that it’s made me question whether there’s much merit to Sangiovese at all. But in theory I’m still hoping; still believing; still trusting - surely Chianti is capable of…

Some might refer to these as value wines, but, believe me, they are not the bargain basement wines you might expect. These are excellent wines at any price and, in fact, some of them have garnered “90 point ” ratings. Where in California or Australia, or France, for that matter, can you get such goo…

The Yakima Valley may not be the the best Cab country, but it manages to produce some delicious, softer, gentler Cabernet. Sheridan is the outstanding vineyard and winery here, but Apex and Willow Crest produce smooth, softer wines. whether you think you don’t like Cabernet Sauvignon try one of thes…

I’m tired at the end of an interesting day. that afternoon I played cricket at Hampton Wick: it was the Wine Trade XI versus Balls Brothers for a fun 20/20 game. I was donated to Balls Brothers as a guest player - technically that was considering I was the last to sign up; perhaps, though, the Wine …

There are so many great Walla Walla Cabs it is impossible to list them all. Here are some of the wonderful Cabs I tasted recently at Taste Walla Walla in Seattle. Interestingly, there were more Cabs on my list of recommended wine from Walla Walla than any other varietal. The Walla Walla terroir seem…

If you fancy being a winewriter - or a writer of any kind, for that matter - one of the things you have to learn to live with, and be ruled by, is the deadline. I’ve always had a simple attitude to deadlines, and it goes something like that. You keep them. While it may not seem very rock ‘n roll, an…