Becky Wasserman is choosing and Russell Hone is pouring Red Burgundies. Not only do you get to try great wine, you also get to hear great stories and enjoy a couple of well spent hours. This entry continues coverage of the Woodland Hills Wine Company tasting of Becky Wasserman Selections. tBoW covered the whites, pinks and sparklers in the previous entry.
While Becky staffed the white and pink flight her husband Russel Hone [ed. greeting us above] handled the Red Table. The wines were all very good. What was really special was how the wines became better as we moved up the ladder…really better. (more…)

This is the way it is supposed to be. Hanging out at the local wine haunt – Woodland Hills Wine Company – tasting 13 wines imported by tBoW’s top Burgundy importer – Becky Wasserman – on a late Friday afternoon.
The Divine Ms. W showed of 7 white wines (including a couple Rose’s and three sparklers) and 6 reds. We present the white flight in this post. Saving the red post for next week. If you are chagrined or disappointed please find solace in knowing Paul Smith, aka Mr. WHWC, did admonish the tBoW tasting Team for not heading straight to the good stuff. (more…)

Bravissimo to Paul and Kyle Smith and the WHWCo crew for putting on one of the best breadth tastings we have attended in many years. The tasting featured the wine selections from Louis/Dressner. Mr. Dressner was there and he confidently assured us the new catalogue has expanded considerably since tBoW included him in our Best of Wine Importers group last year, mostly on the strength of the 2005 Clos de la Roillette which was our favorite Beaujolais in 2007 and a Dressner selection. tBoW faked the rest by cruising the very helpful Dressner website. This guy loves what he is doing which is very good for us. The only issue with Dressner selections is they can be hard to find. Enter Farm Wine Imports, the new distribution company for Louis/Dressner tasked with making sure the days of hunting down Dressner Selections wines are a faint memory. You do want to keep a lookout for these very well priced and made wines. Dressner is as opinionated as anyone in his field [ed. tBoW is being sarcastic having conversed with Neal Rosenthal among others] unusual and thank god for that. His opinions are lively and uncompromising about what represents a wine he would like to share with his customers. (more…)

Today’s LA Times flooded the Food section to talk about seasonal wines. I have been considering how wine follows seasons – just like fashion – following a recent tasting/dinner hosted by the good dokker.
One of the main points the Times writer(s) were out to make was that wine varietals correspond to the season. The writers were spewing forth on the wonderful white wines that are not “heavily oaked” that we can inconspicuously enjoy in the summer when nights are warm and “cool” is as transient as a cold breeze in Chatsworth. Translation? Forget your Napa chardonnays fercrissake and try something white and un-pronounce-able from Spain, Italy or France. The word “cheap” appeared a bit too often for my taste but it was there. (more…)