I'm often asked what some of my favorite wines are. A lot of them are not widely available so I can't include them in my tastings. That is about to change. One of my favorite wineries is Big Table Farm from Carlton (Willamette) Oregon. Their wines have received outstanding ratings from Wine Spectator Magazine and other wine publications. The owners and winery have been featured in the New York Times and a host of other publications. These wines are usually only available at the winery or via their mailing list. If you want to find out more about them here is a link to their web site:  https://www.bigtablefarm.com/ I let them know I wanted to feature their wines for a tasting and if they could set a package deal for us and they agreed! We have put together a three wine package of some of my favorites for the tasting: Wild Bee Chardonnay:  A great example of Oregon Chard it is versatile and works great as a cocktail wine, with chicken, or less pungent seafood. The per bottle pri...

  Thanksgiving is a day that we all sit down with the ones we love as well as the ones we must. For years many of us have been in a rut relying on tried and true wines for our Thanksgiving meals. Pinot Noir, Reisling, and Gewurztraminer. Our next wine tasting will let you get out of that rut, allowing you to show thanks to the ones you love without overspending on the ones you must. You may also find some wines you did not know you liked and may be willing to drink all year long. Coincidentally the wines are all French and try as I might I cannot come up with a tie in between France and Thanksgiving other than the fact that these wines will really complement your meal and the French did help us win the Revolutionary War but that was way after the first Thanksgiving. First off, we will be tasting a Trimbach Pi not Blanc ($17.99 Total Wine), followed by a Jadot Beaujolais Villages ($10.99 Total Wine) followed by a Cuvee Signee by Romain Parisis Chinon ($18.99 Total Wine). The first t...

Overlooked Siblings of Italian Wine Superstars  Virtual (Zoom) Tasting Friday, July 10, 9:00PM Eastern 6:00PM Pacific  As the younger sibling of an extremally successful brother, I have always had a special place in my heart for talented actors and sports stars that were overshadowed by their more successful siblings. Think Frank Stallone, Joey Travolta, Billy Ripken, Dom DiMaggio, and Jerry Van Dyke. The same is true in the world of Italian wine. Piedmont superstar Barolo overshadows its sibling Nebbiolo D’Alba. In Tuscany, the much-acclaimed Brunello di Montalcino is in the spotlight while it’s little brother Rosso di Montalcino operates in the shadows. And finally, Amarone Della Valpolicella rarely lets it younger sister, Valpolicella Rapasso get the attention she deserves. Another similarity between the overshadowed wines and their entertainment/sports counterparts is that they work cheap. While the more famous wines command prices of $40-$50 and beyond, d...

Joe Cillo of Cleveland Ohio asks “what is the difference between a horizontal and a vertical wine tasting?”.  W ell Joe I know that for someone like you a horizontal tasting is the portion of a tasting after you have had too much to taste. But for others a horizontal tasting compares wines from the same year but from multiple producers. For example at a horizontal tasting you may taste nothing but 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Bogle, Kunde, BV, Grgich Hills, and Joel Gott.   That way, in comparing the wines, you get a better understanding of the wine style of that particular producer, and you can then decide which producers match your taste.    A vertical tasting involves wine from the same producer but from different years.  For example a vertical tasting may consist Ravenswood Zinfandel from 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.  That way you get a better understanding of the each vintage in order to better understand the vintage that best fits your t...

I’ve made two trips to Willamette Valley over the past two years to taste Oregon wine from the area.   The wineries we visited were: Ayoub, Archery Summit,  Ayres,  Domaine Drouhin,  Argyle, Soter,  Penner Ash, Coelho, Roco,  Sokel Blosser, Cristom, Adelsheim, Left Coast, Domaine Serene,  Utopia, and Winderlea.  On one of the trips my wife and I stayed at the Ley Puy Inn .  The inn is owned by Lea Duffy and Andy Kosusko and we found the accommodations clean, comfortable, and the inn was nicely decorated and very well maintained.   The setting was relaxing and the breakfasts were unique and tasty. They  went out of their way to make us feel welcome and help us enjoy the area.  Lea  set up appointments for us at some appointment only tasting rooms and they made dinner reservations for us at Painted Lady , and at Recipe two restaurants that we thoroughly enjoyed.  Before I discuss the wineries in mo...