VINEgeek

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 [...]

Picked this up on a whim at the grocery store for a spaghetti and meat sauce dinner.
Producer: Rocca delle Macie  (pronounced ROH-kah DELL-eh mah-CHEE-ah)
Grapes: 95% Sangiovese, 5% Merlot
Appellation: Sangiovese di Toscana (IGT)
Vineyards: estate vineyards
Aging: unknown
Alcohol: 13%
Price: $13
My tasting notes:  The first whiff bursts with juicy cherry aromas followed by some leathery notes. Subsequent sniffs [...]

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 I paid around $15 at Costco.
Tasting Notes: [...]