The history of Marietta Cellars goes back almost 40 years. It is a true American success story that merits the attention of every red wine drinker who wants to drink exceptional wines at fair prices. Marietta Cellars was founded by Chris Bilbro in 1978. In recent years Chris’s sons, Jake and Scot, have taken over most of the responsibilities. Jake and…
I recently saw a thread on WineBerserkers where a person was criticized for participating in a tasting where too many good wines were opened on a single night. The wines opened included Mouton, Haut Brion, Lafite, Margaux, Petrus, Lafleur, Harlan, Marcassin, Krug and a number of high end Burgundies. By my count at least a few cases of wine were…
The 2004 Beaucastel was the winning bottle in the August Installment of Pick My Next Bottle. This bottle was decanted for one hour. Chateau de Beaucastel, located in Courthezon in the Southern Rhone Valley, has over 250 acres of organic vineyards. Unlike many Rhone Valley producers, Beaucastel grows all 13 of the grapes permitted in the appellation and the estate uses…
Welcome to the latest installment of The Week in Zinfandel. If I missed your post or story please send me a link and I will be sure to include it next week. Cheers! NorCal Wine writes Troon Vineyard: Reviews of Current Releases. Toledo Wines & Vines writes Amador County Producing Wines as Good as Gold. Social Vignerons writes Zinfandel Blending…
Carlisle Winery & Vineyards was founded in 1998 by Mike and Kendall Officer. Their passion is clear: Small lots of Zinfandel and Syrah from exceptional, historic vineyards. Many of these vineyards are heritage sites planted by Italian immigrants and date back to the late 1800s . They have also recently added their first whites, two blends from historic, old-vine vineyards plus Sonoma…
The August installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the 2004 vintage. As I mentioned in the first installment, the purpose of this series is to provide insight into specific wines or producers you may currently have in your cellar. I will open the winning bottle this coming weekend and publish a Bottle Note shortly thereafter. Similar…
Dehlinger Winery is located in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County and was founded in 1975 by Tom and Carole Dehlinger. Eva Dehlinger took over winemaking duties in 2007. Known for their Pinot Noir, Dehlinger also makes Chardonnay, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. The grapes for Dehlinger Wines are largely grown on the Estate Vineyard in the Russian…
Welcome to the latest installment of The Week in Zinfandel. If I missed your post or story please send me a link and I will be sure to include it next week. Cheers! Recordnet.com writes Wine Bloggers Gather in Lodi. Dan Berger writes Zin at the Crossroads. Randy Caparoso writes Snapshots and Bloggers’ Fond Memories of the Wine Bloggers Conference…
Ravenswood was founded in 1976 by Joel Peterson. The winery is a pioneer in producing single vineyard Zinfandels from some of Napa and Sonoma’s most treasured vineyards, including Dickerson, Old Hill, Cooke and Belloni. I used to regularly visited Ravenswood in the summer, when they released their single vineyard wines. Back in the day they also served delicious barbeque on the…
Bedrock Wine Co. was founded by Morgan Twain-Peterson in 2007 and focuses on small production wines from many of California’ s most treasured and historic vineyards. The lineup of wines at Bedrock is expanding rapidly, but I think the best of the best are the ancient vineyard Zinfandels, Morgan is clearly passionate about. Pagani Ranch is just off Highway 12…