Wine Weekly

Bodegas Famiglia Valentin Bianchi “Elsa” Malbec 2004 Proof that there are still good values to be had in Argentina. In fact, at a price between eight and eleven bucks (depending on the retailer), this is a super value. Valentin Famiglia Bianchi has been making a range of consistent, quality wines from their vineyards in San [...]

Bodegas Salentein El Portillo Malbec Estate Bottled 2005 The winery is Bodegas Salentein, but you’ll have a hard time finding that on the label. It’s more easily recognized as “El Portillo” (or technically, “Finca El Portillo”), which is the name of the vineyard estate from which the grapes are grown. The vines are located more [...]

Bodegas y Vinedos Huarpe Lancatay Malbec 2004 Now that we’ve learned a bit about Malbec, we’ll do a few days of reviews. First up is a Malbec made in a soft, easy drinking style, from Bodegas Huarpe, a winery sourcing grapes from high altitude vineyards in Mendoza. Their “Lancatay” is a fairly enjoyable wine, with [...]

If you ever venture into the South American aisle of a decent wine shop (and having a “South American” aisle is a sign that it IS a decent wine shop), no doubt you’ve noticed a bunch of bottles from Argentina with “Malbec” on the label. In fact, you probably have tried at least one or [...]

Domaine Charvin Vin De Pays De La Principaute D’orange 2005 Here’s the scenario : I’ve just bought two 90% lean beef patties for hamburgers (with swiss cheese, grilled onion and tomato). I go into the wine shop with the goal of finding a suitable red to go with my burgers. I’m thinking Cotes-du-Rhone, maybe even [...]

Merryvale Starmont Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Napa Valley Although I usually condone (and insist on) trying new wines to expand your horizons and learn to enjoy all the fan and adventure that fermented grape juice has to offer, it’s also OK to drink the same wine more than once (just don’t make a habit of it!). [...]

Hill of Content Shiraz 2004 Australian Shiraz has become overly popular — to a fault. Once a secret among wine geeks “in the know” as an affordable alternative to high-priced Syrah-based wines from the Rhone, Aussie Shiraz has become wildly popular among all imbibers, to the point where pedestrian wine drinkers are surprised to find [...]

Drylands Pinot Noir Marlborough 2005 A few months back, we reviewed Drylands Sauvignon Blanc — a good, clean, nicely priced summer sipper from Marlborough, New Zealand. Not surprisingly, their Pinot Noir was similarly clean and well-valued. The Tasting Notes Very typical “New World” style Pinot Noir. In other words, it has wide open, bright, ripe, [...]

Tall Horse Pinotage Rose 2007 You’d think this site became a pink wine blog … Yes, it’s yet another rose wine review. Sorry, but there are so many gosh-darn good pink wines this year. The latest I’ve tasted is by Tall Horse, made from 100% Pinotage — an unlikely candidate for rose wine. Pinotage is [...]

Solo Rosa Rose (from Sangiovese) 2005 – California Tired of the pink wine reviews? I hope not, as there are at least a half-dozen more coming in the next two weeks. Seems I drank a lot of dry rose the past month. Usually, I go for the pink wines from Spain, Portugal, and France, but [...]