South Carolina Wine Joe

 I was aware of the reputation of Ken Wright Cellars for Willamette Valley Pinot Noir but had never tried one of their wines.  The winery is most known for single vineyard Pinot Noirs but their entry level wine is a blend from several vineyards.  When I have looked for wine from Ken Wright, I have either found the single vineyard wines costing more than $60 or I have found the entry level Willamette Valley blend priced significantly higher than the $22 price on the winery website.  One well known wine shop in downtown Greenville actually sells it for $34.  I guess that the wine must be really good to command higher than retail prices. Two things have recently happened.  Costco has a Ken Wright premium Pinot Noir for around $40 and Whole Foods Market has the entry level Willamette Valley Pinot Noir on sale for $22 rather than their usual price of $27.  I chose the entry level Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and I am sure glad that I did. Ken Wright Willame...

Here are some wines we recently purchased at Costco: Kirkland Signature Barolo 2015 Wines from Barolo are considered to be the finest from Italy.  Made from the Nebbiolo grape, they usually sell for $40 and more making the Costco price of $19.99 very special.  The wine has flavors of cherry, black cherry and blackberry.  SC Wine Joe rating = 92 points Ottosoldi Gavi 2018 This is a refreshing wine which is an enjoyable break from Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio.  It is $11.89 at Costco and has flavors of citrus, lemon and melon.  SC Wine Joe does not assign numerical ratings for white wine but we really enjoy this and have purchased additional bottles. Famiglia Castellani Chianti Classico Reserva 2015 This is one of the best Chianti wines we have tasted in recent years.  It is 100% Sangiovese with flavors of cherry and black cherry.  Costco is selling this for $13.59.   SC Wine Joe rating = 91 points Kirland Signature Ribera del D...

Last March, I wrote about the enjoyable 2016 Shelton Vineyards North Carolina Cabernet Franc.  Well, last week I ordered a case of wine from Shelton Vineyards which included the 2017 vintage North Carolina Cabernet Franc and it was even better than the 2016.  In fact, it was fantastic. The 2017 North Carolina Cabernet Franc is a much richer, darker wine than the 2016.  The previous vintage leaned toward cherry flavors but the 2017  is a darker color and leans more to black cherry and cola flavors.  The alcohol content has increased to 13.1%. This is a new release and the winery has not updated their website.  Previous vintages have blended small amounts of tannat and petit verdot with the cabernet franc.  Since this wine is labeled as North Carolina rather than Yadkin Valley, there is still some mystery about the source of the grapes.  Never the less, this is a terrific, delicious North Carolina Cabernet Franc.  The winery sells this for...

Yesterday, we had our first opportunity to visit Marked Tree Vineyard.  Market Tree Vineyard opened this past Memorial Day weekend and it is located east of Flat Rock, North Carolina, in the Crest of the Blue Ridge Henderson County AVA. Crest of the Blue Ridge Henderson County just received American Viticulture Area designation and currently has five Vineyard tasting rooms open to the public: Burntshirt Vineyards Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards Point Lookout Vineyards Marked Tree Vineyard (opened May 2020) Stone Ashe Vineyard (opened July 2020) Marked Tree Vineyard sits on the Eastern US Continental Divide.  The small but pleasant tasting room is situated on the top of a mountain and there are outstanding views in every direction from the outdoor seating areas.  Mount Pisgah could actually be seen in the distance.  Since we visited on a Monday, there were few customers and it was no problem to maintain social distancing. The grape vines w...

Since I have reduced the frequency of my posts, we have not been experimenting as much with new wines.  This has enabled us to go back and enjoy many of our old favorites.  One of our all time favorites is King Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Gris.  We drank this regularly a few years ago when it was stocked by Costco, but in recent years we enjoyed a variety of Oregon Pinot Gris searching for a new wine to blog about. We are regularly asked about the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio.  Both are made from the same grape.  In France, the grape is called Pinot Gris and in Italy it is called Pinot Grigio.  The style of the wine is a little different in the two countries with Pinot Gris generally more full bodied and complex.  In Oregon, the wine is usually made in the style made famous in the Alsace region of France and thus is called Pinot Gris. King Estate Pinot Gris has been the best selling Oregon Pinot Gris for many years.  ...

SC Wine Joe blog began in November 2013.  In that period, I have written 480 posts.  These have included descriptions of wineries we visited and OLLI events that we led, but most blogs were our opinions of new wines that we tried.  Wine Jane and I enjoy trying new wines and comparing our impressions, but lately we are finding those new wines to be less enjoyable.  In recent years, we have averaged around 6 posts per month.  It takes a lot of new wines to find 6 that might be interesting enough to write about and you would be surprised how many have been poured down the drain.  We are now wanting to enjoy some old favorites that we have found.  We are not ending this blog, but going forward we will post once or twice per month on average.  Some months may have no posts.  Thank you for your continued readership. Bernie and Cindy

Costco has had La Gitana Gold Rioja Reserva 2015 in some stores as early as September 2019, but I just found it locally last week.  Costco's price of $11.99 seems to be about half of the original price and the bottle sports a sticker proclaiming that Wine Enthusiast thinks this warrants 94 points.  While I do not find many 94 point wines for under $12, I do often find Spanish wines that over-deliver for their price. La Gitana gold is made from Tempranillo grown on 60 year old vines in the Rioja region of northern Spain.  It is aged for 28 months in American oak and an additional 12 months in the bottle.  The alcohol content is stated as 14.5%. This wine improved significantly after 45 minutes, so I recommend aerating it accordingly.  I get aromas of cherry, blackcherry and vanilla in the glass.  I taste cherry, black cherry, spice, oak and minor blackberry.  This is a great wine for a small price and it is one of the best Spanish wines I have ta...

My recent delivery of wines from Jolo Vineyards included a bottle of Golden Hallows White Wine Blend.  Last year, I wrote about the 2016 vintage of this wine that I found at a wine shop.  I really enjoyed the 2016 but I think this 2019 is even better.  This wine was bottled and released 3 months after harvest, so it does not experience much aging.  With a wine like this, the current vintage is always better than one that is a couple of years old.  Jolo Golden Hallows 2019 is a blend of 75% Vidal Blanc and 25% Traminette, both French-American hybrid grapes.  The alcohol content is listed as 12.5%. We enjoyed flavors of pineapple, peach, tangerine and a little honey.  As I said in my previous review, this is summer in a glass.  Obviously, this is a great wine to enjoy on the patio but I wondered how it would be with food.  Well, we paired it with baked Mahi and it was terrific.  I highly recommend this summer treat. Jolo sells Golden...

I have been drinking wine purchased directly from my favorite wineries for several weeks, but now feel that I can mix in some wines from big box retailers.  Therefore, I was quite happy to find this Canoe Ridge The Expedition Merlot at Costco.  Canoe Ridge has long been one of my favorite wine brands from the Columbia Valley and I always grab a few bottles anytime Costco has a Canoe Ridge wine. I have noticed that Canoe Ridge will vary the blends on their wines significantly from year to year.  Whereas the 2016 Merlot had 19% Syrah, the 2017 has no Syrah but blends 4% Cabernet Franc with 96% Merlot.  The 2017 Merlot spends one year in French Oak and the alcohol is stated as 13.5%. With this wine, I taste dark berry fruit with some cherry cola.  The tannins are medium intensity and the finish is long and slightly spicy.  I keep finding great values in red wine from Washington and this is no exception.  Wine Spectator rates this as 91 points  an...

Shadow Springs Vineyard has a sister named Windsor Run Cellars located a couple of miles away.  All of the wine making takes place at Windsor Run, which is both a winery and a distillery.  One of the Windsor Run products is a distilled spirit named Shadow Hawk, made from Seyval Blanc grapes grown onsite. In recent years, a number of wineries have introduced wines aged in bourbon or whiskey barrels.  Sometimes, the barrel flavors mask mediocre wine.  Shadow Springs Brandy Barrel Select Red wine is a blend of Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc from more than one vintage year.  The wine was aged one year in oak barrels and 8 months in used Shadow Hawk brandy barrels.  The result is quite different. On the nose, you detect black cherry and chocolate but the brandy aroma dominates.  This is a delicious rich blend of black cherry, blackberry, chocolate, cola and brandy flavors.  It is a bold mouthful of flavor with a very long finish.  This wine is...

Pere Ami is a label produced by Willamette Valley Vineyards in honor of founder Jim Bernau's father, Fred Bernau.  Pere Ami translates as "Father, Friend".  Fred Bernau was a lawyer in the Umpqua Valley of southern Oregon in the 1960's who helped a vineyard pioneer secure one of the first winery licenses in the state after prohibition.  The sketch of Fred Bernau on the label was drawn by his granddaughter. Pere Ami 2017 is a blend of 45% Tempranillo, 36% Syrah and 19% Grenache with a stated alcohol content of 13.9%.  I detected aromas of cherry and raspberry and the color is red/purple.  This is a smooth medium to full body wine that begins with flavors of cherry and black cherry followed by blackberry.  There is nice acidity and a long spicy finish.  This is a well made wine with complex flavors. This wine will need to be purchased directly from Willamette Valley Vineyards and it is priced at $35.  If you are supporting the winery by purchasi...

In a very short time, Jolo Vineyards has become one of the most successful wineries in the Yadkin Valley.  Jolo, located in Pilot Mountain, N.C., features one of the most beautiful tasting rooms in the region with a fine restaurant and breathtaking views of Pilot Mountain.  The wines are made from French-American Hybrid grapes but vinifera vines have been planted for future harvests. We are continuing our support of independent wineries during the pandemic period.  We took advantage of a Jolo offer of 4 selected wines for a reduced price with free shipping.  The package included Crimson Creek Chambourcin, which we have enjoyed in past visits to the tasting room. The wine pours a deep dark red color with raspberry and spice aromas.  The wine was released only a few months after harvest.  The wine is more vibrant and light fruit forward than most Chambourcin I have tasted.  I note cherry, raspberry and blueberry flavors with a lingering spicy finish....

As part of my effort to support my favorite independent wineries during the "shelter in place" period, I ordered a delivery from Shadow Springs Vineyard.  Shadow Springs and it's sister winery Windsor Run Cellars are located in the southwest corner of the Yadkin Valley, within the Swan Creek sub-AVA.  There are 7 wineries located within this small area with more to come.  The other wineries/vineyards in Swan Creek are Dobbins Creek, Laurel Gray, Midnight Magdalena, Piccione and Raffaldini.  Shadow Springs Vineyards Meritage is a 2014 vintage wine made from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot, aged for almost 24 months in oak.  The wine is labeled as "Yadkin Valley" so not all of the grapes are from Swan Creek AVA. There is a inviting aroma of blueberry and blackberry in the glass.  The flavors are a complex combination of dark cherry, blackberry, cola, spice and tannins.   This is one of the best red blends I have encou...

We continue enjoying wines ordered directly from wineries.  In a previous post, I noted that Shelton Vineyards in North Carolina was offering a 20% discount on six bottles with free shipping.  That offer is still available and it is one of the best sales around. The Two-Five-Nine wines are Shelton's premium reserve offerings.  We have found that there is a sharp increase in quality in the Two-Five-Nine wines over the lesser priced Estate wines and we especially recommend the Petit Verdot and Tannat wines. The Tannat wine grape originated in southwest France.  Today, it is the national grape of Uruguay and it is grown in small amounts in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.  It was often grown in those eastern states to blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to give the wine darker color and more body but in recent years, a few wineries are experimenting with producing Tannat wine.  I recently tasted a Tannat from Uruguay and it was delicious and ...

It is spring in South Carolina and time to enjoy some lighter wine.  Fortunately , I included a couple of bottles of 2018 Estate Rose' of Pinot Noir in my shipment from Willamette Valley Vineyards.  2018 is expected to be one of the best vintages ever for Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and Rose' is the first release from that vintage.  This Rose' is sourced from two of the oldest and best known vineyards in the Willamette Valley- Elton Vineyard and Tualatin Estate Vineyard. The wine is a beautiful salmon color.  The aromas are a mild citrus and flower garden.  The flavors are strawberry, tangerine and a little grapefruit.  I sense a little sweetness on the finish.  This is a bright and refreshing wine and it is a predictor of great pinot noir to come from the 2018 vintage. Note: A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Pinot Noir from the 2018 vintage and it was also terrific.  Today, April 2, 2020,  Will...

We are supporting our favorite wineries by purchasing directly from them.  One purchase we made was from Willamette Valley Vineyards in Oregon.  This purchase included a bottle of Viognier from Willamette Valley Vineyards' Griffen Creek brand of Rogue Valley wines. Rogue Valley AVA is located in southern Oregon and it is the warmest and driest wine grape region in Oregon.  Although the acreage of wine grapes is small, a wide variety of grapes are grown due to the differences of terrior throughout the region. Griffen Creek Viognier is a very aromatic wine from the time you pull the cork following into the glass.  Floral and peach aromas burst into the room.  Sparkling peach, pineapple and lemon flavors continue into the finish and beyond.  There is an additional flavor at the back of the mouth that I could not name, but it could be honey.  This is not a one dimensional wine and we thoroughly enjoyed each glass. Willamette Valley Vineyards sel...

My shipment arrived from Shelton Vineyards yesterday, and the first bottle that we opened was the 2016 Cabernet Franc.  In working on this post, I noticed that the label on my bottle identifies this as being from the North Carolina AVA whereas the bottle shown on the website shows it as from the Yadkin Valley AVA and "Estate Bottled".  If we had not enjoyed the wine so much, we would have been quite upset. The back label says the wine was aged 18 months in a combination of French and American oak.  The alcohol content is 11.6% which is not that low for a North Carolina wine. The wine is a medium red color which you can see through, so you know this will not be a heavy wine.  As expected, this Cabernet Franc is a medium bodied wine with cherry and black cherry flavors.  There is a little black pepper and oak on the finish.  I really like this lighter style of Cabernet Franc.  The regular price for the wine is $14.99 and I received a 20% discount ...

This is a difficult time for those wineries that are dependent on tasting room sales.  If you are able, this is the time to support your favorite producers by ordering wine directly from the source.  If you are close enough, drive to the winery and take home a few bottles.  Some of the wineries have drive thru pickup and you do not have to leave your car.  If you cannot drive to the winery, you can have wine shipped to you.  Some wineries are offering free shipping, others are offering discounts and a few are offering both free shipping and a discount. In the past week, we found these offers that we took advantage of: Willamette Valley Vineyards is offering free shipment on orders of $150 and a discount on orders of 6 or 12 bottles. Shelton Vineyards  (Yadkin Valley NC) is offering free shipment and a 20% discount on any 6 bottles. This is an opportunity to purchase some interesting wine and do a good thing in the process.  Costco, Trader Joe'...

A reader of this blog came back from Argentina and relayed how impressed he was with the Cabernet Franc from high elevations of Mendoza.  Since that time, I have found only a few bottles of Cabernet Franc from Argentina and they were not special.  However, I recently found Catena San Carlos Cabernet Franc 2017 at a local wine shop. Catena is a major wine producer in Argentina with a long family history.  This wine is 100% Cabernet Franc grown at the San Carlos Vineyard, elevation 3576 feet. We tasted this wine along with a favorite Virginia Cabernet Franc and a Chinon Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley of France.  On this night, we enjoyed the Catena Cabernet Franc more than the other two.  This is a medium bodied wine with flavors of Raspberry and Black cherry with fine tannins.  Robert Parker rated this wine at 90 points and I think he got it right.  I paid $21.99 for the wine and that seems to be about an average price. SC Wine Joe rating = ...

Wine Jane and I are part of a generation considered to be "at risk" in the current pandemic, so we are hibernating in place with little to do, other than to try new wines and write about them.  Well, it beats working on the taxes!    My favorite Syrah wines come from the Columbia Valley.  A few months ago, I blogged about a Red Mountain Syrah, which I loved.   When I was last in the local wine shop and looking for wines for my mixed case in order to take advantage of my 15% off coupon, I chose Barnard Griffin Syrah. Barnard Griffin Syrah Columbia Valley is 96% Syrah and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Syrah is from the Desert Aire Vineyard which is located in the Wahluke slope region. This region has one of the warmest and driest climates in Washington.  Several highly rated Cabernet Sauvignons and Syrahs originate in the Wahluke slope AVA. We taste cherry, dark cherry and cola with oak and spice on the finish.  This is a very tasty wi...

Trader Joe's Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Chalk Hill Sonoma County 2018 is featured in the current issue of the Fearless Flyer.  As far as I can tell, this is the first version of the wine for Trader Joe's.  Since I usually find the Grand Reserve wines to be excellent choices, I placed this on my shopping list. Chalk Hill is an AVA carved out of the northeast corner of the larger Russian River Valley AVA and it gets it's name from the white volcanic ash in the soil.  Although Chalk Hill is best known for Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, you can also find Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. From the nose, you expect plum and blackberry, but in the mouth I also found cherry and blueberry with a spicy finish.  To my taste, the wine is dominated by light fruit flavors and needs more dark fruit into the finish.  All in all, this is good wine for the $12.99 cost, but not as good as some other recent Grand Reserve and Platinum Reserve Trader Joe's Cab...

Last week, I arrived at Costco just after Owen Roe Sinister Hand was placed in the bins and after the wine manager pointed it out to me, I added it to my haul.  (It is always good to make the wine manager your friend)  This is a Yakima Valley Washington version of a Rhone wine,  56% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Mourvedre and 4% Cinsaut. The Yakima Valley AVA is part of the larger Columbia Valley AVA and includes sub-AVAs Red Mountain and Rattlesnake Hills.  It is bordered on the south by the Horse Heaven Hills AVA.  This is one of the most important wine regions in Washington. Sinister Hand is a medium bodied wine with flavors of raspberry and dark cherry and a spicy finish.   We found it to be a very enjoyable, flavorful wine with enough bite to pair with a variety of foods.  Online, the wine sells for $20 to $27 but Costco had it for $14.59.   I will buy it again for that price. SC Wine Joe rating = 90 points

Costco annually has several Kirkland Signature wines priced under $10 that are fantastic values.  Cotes du Rhone, Chianti Clasico and this Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough New Zealand come quickly to mind and they are extremely popular, selling out quickly. You will note "TI Point" on the front label.  While TI point is a coastal New Zealand penninsula, in this instance, TI Point is the name of a winery that began on that penninsula.  The grapes for this wine are sourced from vineyards elsewhere in Marlborough.  The winemaker is Tracy Haslam, the winemaker and co-founder of TI Point Vineyard.  I know of no other Kirkland Signature wine that has the producer on the front label. Sauvignon Blanc is the most planted grape in New Zealand.  In fact, 86% of the wine exported from the country is Sauvignon Blanc.  Marlborough, in the southern island, is internationally known for a style of Sauvignon Blanc that often has grassy green flavors. Kirkland Sign...

It had been a while since I had a Spanish red wine and Costco had a couple in the bins that looked interesting.  The first was a Tempranillo from an unfamiliar region and we did not find it very blog worthy.  The other was Siglo Rioja Gran Reserva, 2009.  I first noted the 2009 vintage of the wine.  While 10 and a half years since harvest is a long time for a wine found on store shelves, it is not rare for a Rioja Gran Reserve.  The minimum requirement for a Rioja Gran Reserva is 2 years in oak and 3 years in the bottle, but because these are the best grapes,  the winemaker will often age the wine as long as needed to achieve his desired end result. I note some cherry and spice on the nose and the flavors began with cherry and blueberry, finishing with darker berries and spice.  We really enjoyed this wine on the first night, and enjoyed it only sightly less on the second night as we finished up the bottle.   Wine and Spirits rated thi...

On February 7 and February 21, 2020, SC Wine Joe presented "Wines of the Eastern United States" to a total of 50 participants from the Osher Lifetime Learning Institute at Furman University.  We reviewed the history and the current status of wine making in the eastern states, focusing on Virginia, New York and the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina.  This was the fifth year that SC Wine Joe has presented a wine program at OLLI. Above are students from the February 21 session. SC Wine Joe  waiting for program to begin. SC Wine Jane waiting for program to begin A wine tasting followed the presentation.  The wines included: 1.  Barboursville Vineyards Viognier Reserve Virginia 2016 2.  Forge Cellars Dry Riesling Classique Seneca Lake 2017 3.  Jefferson Vineyards Cabernet Franc Virginia 2017 4.  Shelton Vineyards Two-Five-Nine Petit Verdot Yadkin Valley 2017 The first three wines were purchased at Wine Xpress in Sim...

It has been a few days since I last posted to this blog.  I have had a respiratory infection and the medicine interfered with my wine tasting.  Yesterday, we finished a bottle of a heavier Cabernet Sauvignon which we have always appreciated, but I just could not fully taste the wine.  When that wine was depleted, I opened a bottle of Three Thieves Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 and WOW, I can taste wine again.  The lighter, fruit forward flavor was just what I needed. Three Thieves is a product created by three well known winemakers, Roger Scommegna, Joel Gott and Charles Bieler.  They have created a line of wines at accessible prices that outperform their cost. Cabernet Sauvignon (100%) grapes are sourced from Lodi with lesser amounts from coastal California regions. As mentioned above, this is a fruit driven wine with flavors of cherry, black cherry and darker berries.  There is minor vanilla and the oak influence was enhanced with oak staves. Wine Enthus...

I found Tamarack Cellars Firehouse Red 2016 at Costco for $11.99.  This is a fantastic buy since the winery sells it for $20 and online vendors sell it for around $17.  I have been finding great values recently in Columbia Valley reds and I hoped this would be another. Firehouse Red is a blend of 31% Merlot, 27% Syrah,  16% Cabernet Sauvignon,  11% Cabernet Franc and the remainder is lesser amounts of 5 other grapes.  The winery website says that the grapes are pressed directly into the oak barrels for primary and secondary fermentation.  After 1 year, the individual lots are blended. On the nose, I noted dried cherry and vanilla.  I really like Columbia Valley Syrah and that flavor jumps out to me in this wine with blueberry, dark chocolate and spice tones.  I really like this wine and it is a steal at $11.99.  I hope there will be some left when I return to the store. Note:  The tasting room for this winery has closed but will re...

I have had enough bad Pinot Grigio to last a lifetime.  Most, including some best sellers, were poor quality and far too sweet.  However, I recently attended a class on Italian wine and tasted an outstanding Pinot Grigio, so off I went to Costco to find a decent Pinot Grigio. Maso Canali Pinot Grigio comes from a 500 year old estate in Trentino in northern Italy.  The wine is a pale gold color and aromas of peach and floral burst from the glass.  This is a dry and acidic wine with beautiful flavors of peach, pineapple and pear.  The taste lingers long after drinking the wine.   If you have had bad experiences with sweet Pinot Grigio and have moved on to other grapes, this is an excellent wine for another try at Pinot Grigio.  Costco and Total Wine sell this for $14.  SC Wine Joe does not assign numerical ratings for white wines, 

Regular readers of this blog know that I love Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and the Pinot that I most often choose is Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster.  I believe the quality and flavor of this wine cannot be matched at this price point.  We have been enjoying the 2017 Whole Cluster for at least 18 months and have anticipated the release of the 2018 version.  I recently found 2018 Whole Cluster at my neighborhood wine store (Wine Xpress, Simpsonville SC) and grabbed a couple of bottles.  Just like the previous vintage, this is a delicious, juicy, fruit forward wine.  There are bright flavors of black cherry, blackberry, raspberry and a small touch of chocolate.  The flavors linger in the mouth for an extended period of time.  This is not a heavy duty wine and you can enjoy it with or without food but I especially like to pair it with salmon.  This is delicious and I anticipate many bottles of this in my future. Total Wine sells this fo...

On my last post, I wrote about the values found in European wines available in the U.S. for under $15.   Chateau Forcas Dupre Listrac-Medoc, which I found at Costco for $12.99 is a good example.  It should be noted that this wine often sells for around $23 at other retailers, so Costco's price is extraordinary. Listrac-Medoc is an appelation in the Haut-Medoc district of Bordeaux.  Wines from this appelation are primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with lesser amounts of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot or Malbec.  Listrac-Mecoc is less prestigious than some other Haut-Medoc communes and therefore the wines are less expensive.  2014 was a very good year for red wine in Bordeaux. I taste blackberry and sour cherry with some oak in this medium bodied wine.  This is a well made food wine.  We enjoyed this with grilled pork chops and it was a good pairing.  Although Wine Enthusiast rated the wine at 91 points, most other opinions are not that hig...

There has been a phenomena known as premiumization occurring in the wine industry for several years.  Basically, wine makers think that the consumer will think a wine is better if it costs more.  When I started this blog, I found a lot of values in wine costing between $10 and $15 but today I most often spend $15 to $24.  Further, many of the wines in the under $15 price are mass produced to appeal to a broad audience of uninformed customers.  Three conglomerates control 60% of the wines on supermarket shelves and they think that if they put a cute label on the bottle or show sophisticated, beautiful women drinking the wine in their advertisements, you will buy it.  No wonder wine consumption is falling in the U.S., especially among the younger generations. Some exceptions to the above described problem, are wines from certain parts of Europe where you can still find terrific whites under $12 and reds under $15.  However, the US government is trying to me...

Illahe Vineyards and Winery is committed to making wine in the most natural way possible.  They are committed to responsible water management with no irrigation for mature plants.  Grapes are hand picked.  Mowing and transportation of grapes to the winery utilize horses rather than tractors.  No additives are used in the wines.  Their premium 1899 Pinot Noir is made without the use of electricity and transported to Portland by stage coach and canoes. Illahe has experimented with small lots of different grapes to see if they can be grown in their vineyard.  They planted one acre of Tempranillo but found it was very difficult to grow in the Willamette Valley.  Their solution has been to pick the grapes early and make a Tempranillo Rose'. The grapes are whole cluster pressed and barrel fermented. The wine is a pale pink color with aromas of strawberries.  To me, the flavors are primarily citrus.  The wine is very dry and has an alcohol cont...