What we liked so much about the Domaine Séguinot-Bordet Chablis Reserve Sainte Victoire 2006 was that it really was vastly different from any of the other Chardonnays that we’ve reviewed throughout the last few months.  The nose consisted of pears and green apples and had the unmistakable, minerally scent of stone — i.e., like the smell of a wet chalkboard slate – and […]

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While we were in Durham, North Carolina at our law school reunion a couple of weekends ago, we made a point of dropping by several of our old haunts for old times’ sake: Ben and Jerry’s, Whole Foods, Duke Gardens, and Parker and Otis (which used to be Fowler’s Market during our law school days).   It […]

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Last night’s Wine Library TV show (click the link to view the episode at WLTV) was about the Chenin Blanc grape and how it deserved more respect — this couldn’t have been better timing from our perspective, because just a couple of nights ago we opened one of our favorite ever bottles of that varietal: Prince Poniatowski’s Clos […]

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When I was at the Santa Cruz Mountain trade tasting the other day, I had the pleasure of meeting the owner and winemaker of Domenico Wines, Dominick Chirichillo.  Through my own research prior to attending the event, I had identified his winery as one whose wines I could not miss.   
I came home with an array of Domenico wines, and when I […]

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Recently, we were invited to participate in a wine tasting consisting only of Israeli wines.  It was an interesting experience.  I, like most of the wine drinking public in this country, think of Israeli wine through the following framework: Israel is the Jewish state; Jewish wine would typically be kosher; the most well known kosher wine is Manischewitz, which sucks; therefore, all Israeli wine must […]

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This is hands down the best value in a Pinot Noir that I could ever expect to come across.  The only problem is that the $18.58 price tag existed for only 48 hours during Gundlach Bundschu’s 150th anniversary sale a couple of weeks ago.  As you might remember, we told you about it as it was happening, and those of us […]

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In Chardonnays, we tend to prefer the lighter, crisper style of French Burgundies over the bigger bodied, creamier, and less acidic New World versions.  Still, every once in a while we’ll be taken by surprise by a bottle from the non-European regions that will defy our usual preference.  This was certainly the case with the Taz Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2006.   
So, ok, the Taz had some typical California characteristics […]

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Try this out: bake some Nestle toll house cookies and taste them with a glass of Niepoort Vertente Douro.  Strange as it sounds, this Portuguese red is a fantastic match with warm chocolate chip cookies, as we found out this evening, but this is just one of several features that make it a very interesting wine.
What else?  Light body and high […]

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