When perusing wine labels on the shelf of your favorite wine shop, you’ll often find that the label indicates “California” as the region where the wine is from. But, you may have asked yourself, what does that really mean? With all the California win...
Read more →
behind the cork
2016 Hess Select Pinot Noir ($20) This Pinot Noir from Hess Select is from California’s Central Coast. Specifically, the Sarmento Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands region. From the Gablian Mountains in Monterey, these grapes experience the coo...
Read more →A co-worker who is into nice wines recently told me that she used to pour her mother nicer wines when she visited. The problem was her mother would down her glasses of wine like water. She tried to have her mother slow down and enjoy the wine, but to...
Read more →
behind the cork
2015 Hess Select Cabernet Sauvignon ($20) This Cabernet from Hess Select is from California’s North Coast. The wine is produced from Hess estate vineyards in Napa along with grapes from Lake County and Mendocino County. Hess states that “The roll...
Read more →I recently had a friend return from doing some wine tasting in Napa. While he said he enjoyed the wine, he did complain that it was windy and cold. And, he said he was told that the wind helped the wine. So, he asked me “How does wind affect a wine?”...
Read more →On a trip to wine country earlier this year, I picked up several bottles of wine. Included in my wines was a Reserve Chardonnay that I had gotten in Alexander Valley. In the tasting room it was excellent. After purchasing the wines, I was very care...
Read more →
general
During one of our trips to Paso Robles a few years ago, we visited the Kenneth Volk tasting room and really enjoyed their wines. The Paso Robles tasting room is no longer open, but on a subsequent trip to Paso, we stopped in at the Albertsons mark...
Read more →
behind the cork
2013 Hacienda López de Haro Reserva ($16) This Rioja Reserva is a blend of 90% Tempranillo, 5% Granacha and 5% Graciano. It’s grown in vineyards located near the heart of La Rioja, surrounded by the Sierra de Cantabria mountain and the river Ebro....
Read more →
behind the cork
2015 Matsu “El Viejo” Tinta de Toro ($47) I saved the best for last! In previous Behind the Cork™ - Wine of the Week reviews I’ve featured Matsu’s “El Picaro” and “El Recio” wines, both of which are very nice Tempranillos from the Toro region of ...
Read more →I always enjoy it when someone asks me a wine question that I don’t know the answer to. It gives me another opportunity to learn. So, when I was recently asked if I was familiar with Limnio (LIM-nee-oh) I said no and started to do some research. Lim...
Read more →