Wine

Another fine vintage for this always wildly over-performing, huge value, oak-aged Rioja Crianza. As always, it's a blend of 90% Temparnillo and 10% Graciano aged 12 months in used American oak casks. More ripe, dark, juicy,... Read More

Butler Nephew makes nice vintage Port, but Tawny is really the house specialty and where they excel. The Tawny style here is a bit more elegant and noticably brighter than most, although there's still plenty of toasted nut... Read More

Smells great, tastes even better, crazy good price for high quality white Burgundy. That’s really what you need to know here, but we’ll try to give you a little more. It’s from vineyards on the Puligny border... Read More

In this very short harvest, there's a little more oak influence to Sylvain's village Puligny (not more new wood, but more second and third use barrels that needed to be kept full!). It just makes this lovely Chardonnay... Read More

I believe the technical tasting note for this wine, as approved by all the most serious wine writers, is: Hubba Hubba. There’s this thing white Burgundy winemakers do where they let the wine sit in the barrel on what’s... Read More

I certainly didn’t expect to write this, but Sylvain Bzikot’s 2023 village Puligny Montrachet is even better than his outstanding 2022 edition. It’s from several plots of vines above the village of Puligny including... Read More

Lower ABV In the 1970's, Arneis almost went extinct despite being the most important white grape in the Langhe. Luckily for us, a resurgence in interest for Piemonte whites saved Arneis and we get this expression from Ca'Viola.... Read More

Coco Chanel used to advise that the last thing a fashionable person should do before walking out the door is take off one accessory - less is more. Here, despite a brief stay in barrel, the winery left the oak at home and lets... Read More

This is old-school Barolo at it's best. Fruit from across Barolo, 30 days on the skins and 24 months in large oak cask gives a wine of outstanding intensity and grip. As James Suckling says in the 95 point review, A structured... Read More

Cuatro Rayas was founded in 1935 to do one thing - make terrific Verdejo. Back in the beginning, that meant a wine that would seem really...let's say exotic...to us, a white wine aged in glass demijohns in the hot Spanish... Read More

Cade’s Estate Cabernet shows Howell Mountain power and grip in a softer, more accessible, style. As Jeb Dunnuck says in his 93 point review, “The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain comes almost all from the estate... Read More

Natural Not “really” a Pet-Nat, but definitely that vibe is in play here in this wild and frothy blend of New Zealand Chardonnay (70%) and Pinot Noir. The base wines are made separately and then blended, bottled, given... Read More

One of the most wildly delicious and complex not dry wines we know of. You can call it sweet if you like and it will certainly do magic with an apricot upside-down cake. But we'll be drinking our bottles before dinner (or... Read More

Winemaker Neil Koch has worked with superstar Philippe Melka at benchmark Napa Cab houses like Seavey Vineyards, Bryant Family and Vineyard 29 and helped make the bold whites and Chardonnays of Lewis Cellars as assistant winemaker... Read More

Natural Two friends hooked up to make “out of the ordinary” rose from biodynamic fruit in the Dolomites and ended up with something that’s frankly more orange, but still fascinating. It’s a blend of Teroldego... Read More

Lower ABV The “Vernaccia” in the winery name is a reference to the traditional wine of this part of Sardinia – a lightly fortified, Sherry-like, wine named for Sardinia’s version of Vernaccia. A small group... Read More

Lower ABV Christian Bellei is, as Vinous said recently, one of the true Lambrusco di Sorbara masters. A 4th generation Lambrusco maker, Bellei continues his father's innovation of making Lambrusco in the Champagne method -... Read More

A fresh, generous, Chardonnay with no oak and loads of flavor. You’ll enjoy the Golden Delicious apple, persimmon and fresh yellow citrus aromas and flavors and the way the wine feels creamy without any sense of weight or... Read More

As always, an utterly delicious blend of Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay and a splash of Sauvignon Blanc delivers a compelling blend of richness and vivacity, fruit and minerality, and purity and power. Slow fermentation in cool stainless... Read More

As Wine Advocate said in their 93 point review of the 2021: Here's a wine to stock in your refrigerator for easy access when needed. It’s full of crunchy fruit and stone aromas and flavors with a bit of dried lemon and... Read More

Always one of our favorite Pinot Grigio’s for it's compelling blend of depth, richness, vibrancy and cut. It’s grown by the 143 member/farmers of the Terlano cooperative winery (founded 1893!), each paying lots... Read More

Locally founded and crafted in small batches by Peter Pastan and Kat Hamidi, the vermouth is striking. It starts with a burst of cranberry and orange zest and is quickly followed by an exotic spicy bouquet. It masterfully combines... Read More

Peter Pastan and Kat Hamidi’s creativity and tinkering knock it out of the park again. Take a base of quality Santa Barbara AVA wine and aromatize it with 15 different botanicals and you get Capitoline's new addition,... Read More

Lower ABV Hungary’s Furmint grape is most famous for the sweet/tangy/salty wines of Tokaji. Usually when it’s made as a dry white, it impresses for its energy and salty minerality, but with modest alcohol and not much... Read More

A juicy, fruit-filled, fun red for parties, sipping, cookouts, whatever. It's from Alentejo,Portugal,and blends Aragonez (35%), Trincadeira (20%), Alicante Bouschet (20%), Syrah (15%) and Castelão, all fermented and... Read More