It’s stressful to have to hunker down in self-isolation and social distancing, isn’t it? Stress and loneliness make the idea of pulling the cork from a bottle that you’ve been hoarding seem like a very good plan. Let’s open a comfort wine!
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“La Gille” Gigondas is made by the respected Famille Perrin, whose flagship wine is Chateau de Beaucastel. Full of ripe yet elegant raspberry and herbal aromas that evoke the scents of Provence, it is drinking very nicely right now. It’s an excellent wine, well suited when scary times prompt a wish for comfort.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Famille Perrin 2015 “La Gille” Gigondas on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read about Famille Perrin and browse a price and vendor list of all its wines at this link.
Follow this Wine-Searcher link to find listings for dozens of other wines from Gigondas. Read article.
Is there an art to drinking alcohol? Can drinking ever be a virtue? The Renaissance poet Vincent Obsopoeus thought so. Now we can read his sparkling work in English. Read article.
When I cracked open the screw cap on a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir the other day and got ready to pour, I noticed that my thumb fell naturally into that deep dent on the bottom of the bottle. Is that what it’s for? Well, not exactly, but if it’s handy, I say use it.
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“Sisters Ridge” North Canterbury Pinot Noir offers ripe cherry-berry and fresh herbal aromas. Tart cherries carry over on the palate with good acid balance. cherry flavors are clean and fresh, lingering in a long, subtle finish.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Wine-Searcher.com has no listing for this wine, perhaps new in the market. Sisters Ridge parent company Mount Beautiful suggests contacting the winery or calling (707) 745-3649 to order directly.
Follow this Wine-Searcher link to find listings for dozens of other wines from New Zealand’s Canterbury region. Read article.
Wine prices may be going down. That’s the good news, especially for bargain hunters. Also that 100% tariff that we talked about recently may be going away, at least for a while. But here’s the bad news: the long-term picture for the wine economy is not looking good.
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Barnard Griffin’s 100% Syrah from Washington State’s Columbia Valley shows very dark purple in the glass, all the way to a thin, bright garnet edge. Scents of plums and red berries lift from the glass in an aroma of fresh, forward fruit. Red fruit flavors follow the nose, framed by bright acidity and firm, astringent tannins, with 13.8% alcohol claimed. It’s a pleasant table red, not overly complex. (Feb. 19, 2020)
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for on Wine-Searcher.com.
Follow this Wine-Searcher link for an article about Columbia Valley and links to dozens of the region’s wines.
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What does “sustainable” mean? Can you taste it in wine? When I picked up a bottle of Cline Family Cellars’ 2018 Sonoma County Syrah the other day, I chose it mostly for its $15 price tag, frankly. But a simple line of small print across the front label caught my attention and promptly sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole.
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Cline’s dark-purple Syrah offers black plums, black cherries, and a whiff of tobacco leaf on the nose, leading into a mouth-filling black-fruit and black coffee flavor framed by fresh acidity. Its drying tannins and fragrant black pepper aftertaste are typical of Syrah. Interesting wine. Its origin in Sonoma County’s cool-climate Diamond Pile Estate vineyard and its subtle French oak imparts a surprisingly Rhône-like character for a California Syrah.
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Check prices and find vendors for Cline Sonoma Coast Syrah on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read more about Cline Cellars and follow this Wine-Searcher link to find vendors and prices for many Cline wines. Read article.
When I read about the death of Georges Duboeuf earlier this month, I realized that it had been a long time since I had tasted one of the Beaujolais wines that this iconic producer made famous. I didn’t realize quite how long, though.
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