Last month, I was one of the International judges in the 2013 Wines of Portugal Challenge, an annual event that was recently opened up to include wine-type-folks from outside of Portugal in the judging pool. The results of that competition have just been published, and as their guest (okay, okay, and to make up a…
Category: elegant wines
Planes, Trains, And Single-Day Butt-Numbing Automobile Rides To Dão (Quinta dos Roques Recent Releases)
The first thing I need to tell you is that I’m deeply grateful to ViniPortugal for having invited me to Lisbon to judge in the 2013 Wines of Portugal Challenge (the first time they’ve opened it up to international judging), and for the hospitality that they showed to me while I was there. I have…
Toilet Frogs And Whale Tails (Alto De La Ballena Recent Releases)
One could go their entire blogging life and never be fortunate enough to use the phrase “toilet frog.” And yet… here I am, able to use the term from personal experience. I need a moment to revel in this, people. Please, indulge me a moment, for I have met them, in person. T-o-i-l-e-t f-r-o-g-s…. As…
Rocks, (PhD) Papers, Capybara (Bouza Winery Recent Releases, Uruguay)
Bouza Winery is small even by Uruguay’s petite wine production standards. 25 hectares of vineyards spread out between two plantings, in the Melilla and Las Violetas regions near Montevideo, yielding about 120 thousand bottles a year. But you wouldn’t know it tasting their wines, which are bold, modernly stylized (okay, and in a few cases…