José Zuccardi Malbec is a Malbec for Malbec-Heads
An archetype means “a very typical example of a certain person or thing.” In the case of the José Zuccardi Malbec, 2019 I think it’s safe to call it a hyper-archetypical Malbec — in that it provides all the fun fruity flavours you’ve come to…
Cathedral Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Continues to Impress
To call me precocious about wine as a teenager would be more than accurate. At 17 I was already bragging to my (surely uninterested) peers about my growing wine journal, where I recorded tasting notes of the relatively infrequent glasses I was afforded the opportunity…
Faust Cabernet Sauvignon is a Fantastic “Treat Yourself” Wine
With inflation surging, the safety of the “$20 bottle of a varietal and region I like” is getting shaken. By that I mean, if I grabbed a cab sauv north of $20 from Cali, at the very least I expected to enjoy, if not love…
What Happens When You Age Wine? Comparing 2 Reviews of the Same Wine 8 Years Apart
Take a trip back in time with me. All the way to the hyper distant world of 2014. My then-girlfriend (now wife) and I had just come back from a 5 month soujourn in South East Asia, and my parents (presumably grateful their feckless son…
Erath Pinot Noir is a Perfect, Light, Fall Red Wine
The cold weather cometh — and while that can be a bit of a rocky transition for everyone, I don’t think anyone is hit harder than white wine drinkers. Ok that might be an exaggeration, but seriously one day you’re reaching for that bracingly cold…
Ridge Three Valleys Sonoma County Is a Magnificent Zinfandel Blend
My Dad is one of the reasons I fell in love with wine. Not only is it his pure and earnest enjoyment of a good glass or his devotion to St- Emilions, but it’s the fact that every once in a while he’ll get a…
Margaux du Chateau Margaux 2010: Another Face on My Alcohol Mount Rushmore
I’ve had a few alcohol milestones that I’m pretty proud of. It was a truly unique experience to drop hundreds on a single bottle of Tactical Nuclear Penguin beer. Most recently, I tasted the bourbon unicorn Pappy Van Winkle 23. And just last month, I…
Smoking Loon Cabernet Sauvignon
I remember the first time I tried Smoking Loon Cabernet Sauvignon vividly. It was nearly a decade ago on a ski trip with family friends to Maine. My mom and I were browsing the ill-stocked general store in town for a wine that might be passable…
Robert Mondavi Private Selection Bourbon Barrel Cabernet Sauvignon is a Great Winter Wine
When a non-wine drinker recommends me a bottle, I always view it with a bit of skepticism. It’s only natural — they don’t even necessarily know what wine they like let alone what wine I like. So when my buddy recommended me Robert Mondavi Private Selection Bourbon Barrel Cabernet Sauvignon on…
Tilia Malbec Tastes Terrific, Especially on a Tight Budget
When I began writing about booze in University, it was almost exclusively to recommend inexpensive alternatives to the crap my friends were drinking. Getting college drinkers off boxed wine and Budweiser is no mean feat, but I approached it with the unique vigor of someone…