behind the cork
2017 Hess Select North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon ($19) Hess Select wines are from family-owned Hess estate vineyards in Napa Valley and from grower partners who share Hess’ sustainable farming philosophy in Lake, Napa and Mendocino Counties. This ...
Read more →The common ritual when you order a bottle of wine is that the server will show you the bottle, open it and pour you a small amount. This can be a bit of a nervous moment if you don’t really know what you are supposed to do. But, it’s actually quite s...
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behind the cork
2018 Two Hands Angel’s Share Shiraz ($33) Here’s a re-visit with this wonderful Angel’s Share Shiraz from Two Hands. Angels’ Share refers to the small amount of wine that evaporates from oak barrels during maturation. Medieval winemakers assumed ...
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behind the cork
2017 Merry Edwards Meredith Estate Russian River Pinot Noir ($68) My favorite Pinot Noir wines are from the Russian River. That’s where I first fell in love with Pinot and I haven’t found a region that can beat it. And, this Merry Edwards Pinot No...
Read more →I occasionally shop at smaller wine retailers such as delis and drug stores. Something I’ve noticed is that these smaller retailers don’t have the same turnover that larger wine stores and grocery store have. So, I’m often pleasantly surprised to fin...
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behind the cork
2017 Merry Edwards Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($48) This Merry Edwards Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir comes from six vineyards that include the 115, 667 and 777 blend of Dijon clones that originated in teh cool Burgundian region of France. The 2017 harves...
Read more →I see this question come up periodically. Someone has an old bottle of wine or discovers that their parents stashed away a bottle that is now quite old. And the first question a lot of people have is “What is this old bottle of wine worth?” Well, th...
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behind the cork
2018 Merry Edwards Russian River Sauvignon Blanc ($36) This is an outstanding Sauvignon Blanc! This Merry Edwards Russian River Sauvignon Blanc was fully barrel fermented in Tonnellerie Cadus French Oak barrels, 18% of which were new. It was then...
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general
It was recently brought to my attention that each bottle of champagne includes a code on its label indicating the type of producer who made the wine in the bottle. The codes will start with two letters followed by a series of numbers. The numbers...
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behind the cork
2017 Adorada Pinot Gris ($3.99) Well here’s another Trader Joe’s find! As I was checking out, my checker pointed this one out as a “one time buy” that she thought was really good. At $3.99 I had to give it a try. According to the Adorada Wines w...
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