08 Maison Bouachon ‘Les Rabassieres’ (Côtes du Rhône): The lighter, food-friendly side of French GSM topped w/ a heap of white pepper $12 B- # 08 Centine (Toscana): 2nd under-performing vintage in a row for this now mildy-stinky & not-so-super Tuscan. Are we in a tailspin? $11 C- # 08 Cru ‘Appelation Series’ Pinor Noir…
Sommelier’s Choice: The Top Wine Releases of 2010 from Sommelier Journal
1WineDude.com readers are no strangers to Sommelier Journal, the wine mag with which I started a bit of a wine-geeky-info-love-affair back in 2008 (I’m a subscriber). You may also recall that last year I took SJ to task (tongue firmly in cheek, of course) for their Top Wine Releases of 2009 (as chosen by wine…
A Wine For Epic NFL Playoff Victories
The defining characteristic of the most preferable wine for imbibing while viewing epic, come-from-behind NFL playoff battles between hated sports rivals (aside from the wine having been paid for by someone else, that is), would be that the wine is very good without being too good. [ I should note before we go any farther…
Going Pro: I Will Drink All Wine Before Its Time
When it comes to tasting wine in a critical context (critical as in “for the purpose of reviewing potential and quality” and not critical as in “life-threateningly-important” – though way, way, way too many people treat it that way), I’m often reminded of the phrase made (in)famous decades ago in wine TV commercials by an…