Wine Reviews and News for Passionate Wine Lovers

2006 Morgan Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard (USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands) Just had this wine while sitting on a bail of hay at a private jazz concert with Peter White on Catalina island. I think the full moon added to ...

2004 Murphy-Goode Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley (USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley) Dark purple. Nose musty with currant, plum, vegetal  and strong stainless steel.  Palate is black fruits, mostly blackberry but the intense vegetable flavors like bell pepper and then chocolate ...

2004 Fire Block Shiraz Old Vine (Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley) Good dark color and a nice dirty nose.  However it stops there.  This wine was a best seller at Total Wine so I thought I would bring it ...

2006 Orin Swift Papillon (USA, California, Napa Valley) This is a nice wine with very good structure.  A friend brought this bottle to a dinner in LA.  The balance, structure and quality hit me instantly.  Dark fruits and lots of blueberry ...

2006 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon (USA, Washington) Loads of butter, cherry and vanilla on the nose as well as some dark berries. Nice start and could not wait to jump into the tasting. The color was a real deep violet. The palate ...

2006 Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot (USA, California, Napa Valley) OK...  the 06 was very disappointing.  Duckhorn Merlot has been one of my favorite Merlot until the 06.  This wine got thin and industrial with little character. I put my 04 and 05 reviews ...

2004 Concannon Vineyard Petite Sirah Limited Release  (USA, California, Central Coast) Color was very deep red/purple.  Can't even see through it.  The nose at open had blackberry,  a little cherry and alcohol, and a very unique smell that smells like a perm ...

2004 Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon (USA, California) A good friend asked me to rate this wine.  2-buck-chuck as they call it, it was very industrial.  Overall not much character.  The nose had lots of cherry and chocolate but it was hinting toward ...

Sipping Staglin Cabernet with Gary Vaynerchuk 1998 In Ft Lauderdale today with Gary Vaynerchuk for meetings.  We opened up a 1998 Staglin and I was a little surprised how earthy the 98 was.  As Gary said, "really Stinky",  that's kind of in ...

Red Rock Merlot 2005,  82 points Simple would be the word for this wine. Definitely not overbearing.  I'm being sarcastic because this is by far a table wine at best.  New world, tank feel. The nose has cedar, plum, with some ...

McManis Family Vineyards Merlot (USA, California) The color was a thin light purple.  The nose was just ok with darker fruits and tobacco.  The alcohol was very prevalent.  This wine was very short with just a little fruit on the palate, cherry ...

2006 Beringer Stone Cellars Merlot (USA, California, Napa Valley) Not bad for 8 bones. This wine had some depth to it, but overall it was not dynamic or exciting.  Got hints of sour cherry and darker fruits on the start.  The nose ...

2003 Domaine de Chevalier (France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan) Charred oak and coffee on the nose. Rich sweet blackish fruit on the palate with some slatey pencil notes. Has length. Initially seemed ready, but the tannin and acid soon enough came forward. Needs ...

2005 Chateau Dauzac (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux) Dark wine on the palate and somewhat boring. Medium bodied wine with floral, blackberry, and green pepper nose.  Little garden and greens on the nose.  Lots of acidity that hits the sides of the tongue ...

Very dark purple color almost black. The nose was earthy. Lots of ripe, dark red fruits, with a dusty quality to it. This bottle drank exceptionally well but got much better overnight. Good complexity of blackberry, chocolate, and cream. It ...