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This is the second appearance of the Mencía grape here in the Oddball series. The first was the terrific Viña Caneiro 2007 Ribeira Sacra. But this one is from Bierzo, another northwestern region of Spain.
La Mano Mencía Roble 2007 Bierzo
Producer: Vinos de Arganza
Grapes: 100% Mencía
Appellation: Bierzo (DO, Spain)
Vineyards: No info on the bottle or website, but if [...]

A recent post over at Benito’s Wine Reviews got me thinking about rosé. I need a reminder every once in a while. Almost every time I drink one, I think, “Why don’t I drink this more often?” Then I go back to my reds and whites. So, as I was contemplating what to pull from [...]

My apologies in advance for the sketchy details on this bottle. There’s not much info on it to be found online. I’ve had a draft of this post sitting around for a while and I didn’t think I’d bother posting it, but I’ve been sick for a while and haven’t been drinking any wine so [...]

This was just a random pickup at Whole Foods one day. The label design caught my eye, then I noticed the blend, then “Catalan” on the label. Wait, doesn’t Catalan refer to Spain… as in Catalonia? But this is French. That was interesting enough for me to plunk down my $11. I wasn’t sure when [...]

artezin (I think they prefer no caps) is a part of the Hess Family of wineries. The label is focused on Zin, Petite Sirah and Carignan. In this wine, they “strive for a classic varietal, fruit-forward, ‘Zinny’ Zin.” Let’s see if they hit the mark for me.
Producer: Artezin Wines
Grapes: 91% Zinfandel, 9% Petite Sirah
Appellation: Mendocino County [...]

This is the fourth installment of Mourvèdre Monday, VINEgeek’s yearlong deep-dive into the Mourvèdre/Monastrell/Mataro grape. Check out the other posts in the series here.

After I announced that 2010 would be The Year of Mourvedre here at VINEgeek Enterprises, I got lots of great recommendations from my fellow winos. This bottle was suggested by @Sonadora of Wannabe [...]

I only became aware of this Spanish wine region back in July from Eric Asimov’s terrific article in the New York Times. Take a few minutes to click through and read it. Go on. I’ll wait here.
Ok, pretty cool, huh? Remote/undiscovered wine region. Indigenous grapes. Ancient wine-making tradition. Dramatic terrain. Winemakers who care about doing [...]

I’m still sort of tip-toeing into this Mourvèdre Monday series. I’m saving the big guns for later in the year and I’m sticking with a bargain Spanish bottle again this week. This one got 90 points from Parker and Tanzer, so let’s check it out.
Producer: Casa Castillo
Grapes: 100% Monastrell (Mourvèdre)
Appellation: Jumilla (DO, Spain)
Vineyards: From dry-farmed estate [...]

Michael~David Winery Petite Petit 2007 Lodi
This wine was a press sample provided by Michael~David Winery.
Which came first the name or the wine? That’s what I wonder when see that this wine is called Petite Petit for it’s combination of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot (and oddball blend to be sure). Clever name, but is that [...]

This is the 5th installment of VINEgeek’s Oddball Wine of the Week. Click here for links to each wine in the series.
Quattro Mani [toh-kai] 2007
Producer: Well, the brand is Quattro Mani, which is a label from Domaine Select Wine Estates, an importer. But the wine is made by Ales Kristancic of Movia.
Grapes: 100% Tocai
Appellation: Goriska Brda [...]