VINEgeek

I’m always game to try something unusual when it comes to wine. On this blog you’ll see as much Baga as Bordeaux, as much Tannat as Tuscany, and more Mourvèdre than Merlot and Malbec combined. So you know when I had a chance to taste a Tempranillo Blanco, I was all over it. That’s right, [...]

I am long overdue to review these wines from Cleavage Creek, kindly provided as samples by the winery. I had been waiting to do some sort of tie-in with Breast Cancer Awareness Month or something like that (Cleavage Creek donates 10% of gross sales to various breast cancer research organizations.) When I heard the awful [...]

— Price: I paid $16.81 via Garagiste. — Like a fruit punch popsicle on a stone stick. Vibrating with energy. Meaty. Full. Hot. B

First Mourvèdre Monday in the new format!! Image credit: Alaskan Dude via Flickr I’ve tried 3-4 of the wines in this lineup over the past year or two and this is first one that has really grabbed my attention. Price: around $17

Way back in October, Wines of Chile held a twitter tasting of red blends from Chile (hashtag: #ChileBlends). I had signed up for the tasting and received the wine, but a family emergency kept me from being able to participate on the night of the event. That also coincided with this blog going into a [...]

I’ll admit to having a geekcrush on Randall Grahm, president-for-life of Bonny Doon Vineyard. So take my opinion on his wines with a grain of salt. You can geekcrush on him, too, here and here and here and here and here. FYI: “Le Pousseur” translates to “the pusher”. ____________________________ Producer: Bonny Doon Vineyard Grapes: 100% [...]

Carignane is about as unsexy as grapes get. Firstly, it’s a pretty ugly-sounding word. And have you ever heard anybody say, “My favorite wine is Carignane”? I didn’t think so. When it is used, it’s most often in blend, so today’s varietal Carignane from Cline is suitably oddball. And being “old vines” adds a little extra [...]

I haven’t experienced a lot of New World albariño, so I thought it’d give this one a try when I spied it at Costco. I’m glad I did. tangent Albariño 2008 Edna Valley Producer: tangent (they seem to prefer the lowercase t). They’re an intriguing producer focused on white varietal wines other than Chardonnay. Their [...]

Mourvèdre Monday finally makes it to Texas. Becker is a big name in the Texas wine scene. I’ve tried quite a few of their wines over the years with mixed results. I had high hopes for their “Prairie Rotie” — a Southern Rhône blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah and Carignan (though the name is a [...]

I always look forward to opening another bottle of wine from Cline Cellars. Cashmere is their GSM blend (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre) and in their latest release – the 2008 –  they’ve upped the share of Mourvèdre in the blend. Your favorite blogger’s favorite grape is now the lead dog at 44%. (Let’s all pretend [...]