VINEgeek

Tuesday night I opened a bottle of Stickleback Red 2008 from the Aussie winery Heartland. It was a Costco grab that intrigued me with it’s mix of grapes: the back label says it’s a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Shiraz, 5% Lagrein and 4% Dolcetto. Tastes more like 100% Smuckers. This is a major dark [...]

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 [...]

Hess has produced a number of bottles that have been noted as great values by the big wine publications in the past few years. When I saw this single-vineyard Napa Cab on sale at my local supermarket, I thought I’d give it a try. Note to wineries: putting the vineyard name(s) on the bottle always [...]

It’s been a little while since a Spanish Monastrell has made an appearance on Mourvèdre Monday. This one comes from Sierra Salinas in the Alicante region focused on the Monastrell grape. Producer: Bodegas Sierra Salinas Grapes: Primarily Monastrell (the Spanish name for Mourvèdre), with Garnacha Tintorera (which is not Garnacha/Grenache, but the same as Alicante [...]

Producer: Valley of the Moon Winery Grapes: This is their Bordeaux-style blend, which they call Cuvée de la Luna. 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot Appellation: Sonoma County AVA Vineyards: Various lots were sourced from Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Mountain and other area in the county. [...]

I bought this wine on a trip to Napa/Sonoma about 5 years ago. It was my favorite wine of the trip and I splurged the $85 in the tasting room to bring home a bottle. Now if you’ve ever been on a wine country trip, I’m sure you’re familiar with the phenomenon whereby your capacity [...]

Gary Vaynerchuk made a stop in Austin recently on his book tour for Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion. In addition to the three book signings he did around town that day, he and Lindsay Ronga organized a Cork’d tasting that night. (Cork’d is the wine social networking site [...]

I was in Spec’s the other day with no real direction to my shopping, just browsing around. I saw the Merlot section and thought “why not?”  I rarely buy Merlot, but I was feeling a bit guilty for not being more open-minded. I saw this bottle with a healthy dollop of Cabernet Franc (and a [...]

After really enjoying the last Montsant wine I tried, I have been on the lookout for more. I saw this one for about $11 and had to give it a try. Falset 2006 Montsant Producer: Falset Marçà Grapes: 50% Garnacha, 30% Cariñena, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon Appellation: Montsant (D.O., Spain) Vineyards: Vineyards are at 1240 feet [...]

Producer:  Chateau Liversan (Domaines Lapalu) Grapes:  50% Merlot, 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc (that is according to the label; I find different %s in different places online) Appellation:  Haut-Medoc (AOC), France Vineyard:  96 acres; gravel limestone on a chalk subsoil acts Aging: 12 months in oak Alcohol:  14% Production:  20,830 cases Price:  I believe [...]