Posts belonging to Category Wine Grapes

Kris-A and Kris-B visited Ontario recently. If you are not sure where that is… here is a map showing the vineyards. That is correct – Niagara Falls is in Ontario. The Krisses last contributed to tBoW with photos and comments on their trip to the Mosel. These guys have their heads and gullets in the right place – where wine is made and quaffed! It is becoming gradually clear that vinifera is truly a wild vine and can grow just about anywhere. This makes sense when one realizes that the proliferation of vinifera is less than 200 years old! Here is the report from two of our top tBoW team reporters. Since you will NEVER see these wines unless you visit Ontario please read about them now. But who knew Ontario has Wine Country? Check out the link so you can plan your own trip to yet another exotic unexpected land-o-wine. The Krisses certainly make it cool. (more…)

Touting a Garagiste – aka “G.” – purchase is always dicey. Like nostalgia, praising a great G. buy only works in retrospect. Rimmerman’s selections almost always sell out so there is no going back and buying in. You have to be there when it all goes down. There are other pitfalls when mainlining G. which Dotoré will insist we mention [ed. and we have in an earlier G. post] such as Rimmerman’s twist on the “availability principle,” as in “it’s not a question of price but availability.” With G. you have to strike early and decisively since it is apparent G. buys “on the come.” When you check your warehouse chart you will find many “pre-arrival” notes next to the wine for which you so willingly even anxiously..yes thrillingly!!…pulled the trigger! (more…)

Summer was almost here…then it jumped off the hook just like a River Monster. tBoW and team tasters have been doing our best to get ready for endless heat and long evenings on the patio with corks getting pulled and the BBQ working. Spring cleaning usually turns up a couple surprises but this year we hit the jackpot. Been waiting on this double-and-a-half magnum for some time. We did not know what to expect although we could vouch for the past 20 years of provenance. There’s more. (more…)

We got lucky when Paul Smith moved his wine shop from the north end of the West Valley to the South end. Changed my ten mile drive to one mile in his new shop, the Woodland Hills Wine Company. Son Kyle runs the place now but you can

usually find Paul glad-handing everyone and selling some of the outstanding selections domestic and international in his store. I love the place for more reasons than the presence of the sardonic Paul. (more…)

Hand over the mantle of leadership for Rhone style wine-making to the Tablas Creek team. Something has happened in Paso and we need to understand how…somehow. A region that once struggled to overcome vegetal Cabernets and tomato-flavored Pinot Noir is the zenith of New World Rhone style wines. No more fruit bombs. Plenty of spine and grip. And lush fruit. (more…)