A fun and irreverent wine blog focusing on wine from all over the world. WSET-2 w/Distinction. Also features vacation reports, thoughts about movies and anything else I want to talk about.
Always an exciting list, but before compiling this list I felt like we drank less wine this year, and drank less really special wine. Am I right? Let’s see.
Right off the bat, I think it’s safe to say we haven’t seen the depth of great wine this past year that we usually do, as wines that get 94 points rarely see this list, but this was a lovely little wine we enjoyed recently and it comes in at #10:
At #9, still in Florida, this gorgeous Burgundian Chardonnay we enjoyed at Wine Bar George!
A perennial BC favorite slides in at #8:
At #7, a house very familiar to these “Best of” lists. There’s probably a Hartford wine on this list every year!
A special one we’ve been saving from Joseph Phelps comes in at #6.
At #5, the most recently enjoyed wine on the list, a gorgeous and reasonably priced Chardonnay from New Zealand.
#4 sees a wine that produces quality every vintage, even in down years like 2009 in Napa.
#3 takes us back to a wonderful dinner during our Florida trip in January at Topolino’s Terrace at the Riviera Resort, and this drop-dead stunning Brunello.
At #2, I challenge anyone to find a better Syrah at this price.
And my wine of 2023, this spectacular red blend from Chile which flirts with perfection. Just a triumph of winemaking!
That’s it for today! Up next: I have pages of reviews to catch up on, so stay tuned!
Here are the scores from my final 2 vlogs of 2022: The fourth entry in the 2022 Rosé series, plus the latest entry in the “Weird and Wonderful” series. Let’s get right to the scores!
That’s it for today! I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season, whatever you celebrate, plus a very Happy and safe New Year! Here’s to 2024!!
If you missed my last vlog, here are the reviews from Part Three of my 2022 rosé series. Part Four is still to come (soon)!
That’s it for today! As I said, Part Four is coming soon, along with everything else we’ve been drinking lately. Also, I have FOUR other videos at various stages of production, so stay tuned for those as well!
Trying out a new review template; hoping that it doesn’t affect the quality of the blog but will fit better on a TV screen on my YouTube channel. Let me know what you think!
That’s it for now! Lots more stuff to report on, I’ll try to get another blog post up soon as I attempt to actually catch up on everything we’ve been enjoying. Also, Episode 3 of my 2022 Rosé series should be up to YouTube soon, and those review will follow here not long after. Stay tuned!
OK let’s get right to it! All the rose I’ve reviewed so far this year. There will be one to two more vlog entries as I still have a bunch that I have not yet tasted!
And, my latest “Cheap and Cheerful” entry featured these three wines perfect for the “budget conscious” amongst you!
Last but not least, the entries in my recent “Weird and Wonderful” vlog; some stuff you just don’t see everyday!
That’s it for today! Stay tuned for more random updates of great stuff we’ve been drinking over the past months and check out my vlog if you haven’t already! In the next day or so, I’ll be posting Vlog #100 which features my second attempt at taking the tasting portion of the Master Sommelier exam!
Haven’t done one of these updates for a while, so let’s get right to it!
And, you’ve made it this far, so with no further adieu, the two wines I teased in the title!
That’s it for today! Next up, all the rosés from Part 2 of my “2022 rose” series, plus another update of a bunch of random stuff we’ve been drinking. Stay tuned!
Today we received the devastating news that Alex Russo, longtime Wine Club Concierge for Enotecco Wines (Le Vieux Pin and LaStella), passed away suddenly this past Friday. To say that this news came as a shock would be a momentous understatement.
Alex was one of the good ones. We joined both wineries’ wine clubs many years ago, and Alex took spectacular care of us. You expect a good Wine Club concierge to treat you well, obviously, but it was more than that with Alex. No request was too difficult. Nothing was off limits. I mentioned once, totally off-hand, that we were having a wine party where we were serving a complete vertical of their wine blend “Ava”, from 2010 to the present vintage. He was delighted to hear that, and excused himself for a moment when he went down to the cellar and brought us a rare bottle of their first vintage – 2009 – to include in the tasting. Let’s just say that wine wasn’t exactly available to the public (or probably to most club members) at that point. I hadn’t asked for it; I don’t even remember if I knew it existed (as it wasn’t called “Ava” yet in 2009). But Alex was going to make sure we really had a complete vertical. The phrase “above and beyond” didn’t do Alex justice.
This is one story. I could tell you 20 others. We left their wine clubs 4-5 years ago. Alex knew it wasn’t because of dissatisfaction with anything he had done, or the wine, or anything with the winery. My wife has been having some health challenges and she’s been drinking a lot less wine, meaning we needed to start buying a lot less wine. Not only did Alex understand, he continued to treat us like wine club members up until the last conversation I had with him just recently. The first thing he asked when we talked wasn’t about wine; he asked how my wife was doing. He asked if we were going to be able to come up and visit him soon. There was no business reason for him to treat us so well; he knew we weren’t buying much wine. He treated us well because he wasn’t our Wine Club Concierge anymore; he was our friend.
The last thing he ever said to me was “I hope I get to see you guys this summer.” Oh, how I wish we could.
Rest in peace, friend. The BC wine industry will not be the same without you.
Ten years ago today, I decided to start a food and wine blog because….well, because I like wine and LOVE food. That might explain my belly. But I digress…
I just thought it might be fun to jot down my thoughts. Mostly for myself, but I thought others might enjoy it. I never expected it to go for a decade+, and never expected it to reach so many people I don’t know.
Oh, and the money. OH THE MONEY. Since monetizing the blog (adding ads) a few years ago, I have earned…..drumroll please…..
TWELVE DOLLARS AND SIXTY ONE CENTS!
Oh, and that’s AMERICAN dollars, folks! Oh, it’s good to be rolling in it.
Of course, I haven’t actually GOT any of that money; they only pay it out once you get a sweet, sweet Benjamin. So, I should get paid for this blog in only about (does math)…..21 more years.
Anyhow, please don’t be jealous. It’s unbecoming.
The very first wine I reviewed, Church & State 2008 Coyote Bowl Meritage. At the time, I was using a 10 point scale, and apparently at the time I didn’t care much for Cabernet. Or Merlot. LOL.
“Coyote Bowl” refers to the area of the Okanagan, about 10 miles south of Oliver, where the grapes are harvested. This winery also has grapes on Vancouver Island.
This is a blend of the usual “big three” red Meritage grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Ironically these are generally not our favorite three red grapes (in fact, they might be our least favorite of the grapes readily available in BC). As Paul Giamatti so eloquently put it in “Sideways”: “I’ve come to never expect greatness from a Cab Franc”. I agree, in fact I’ve yet to find a single varietal Cab Franc that I enjoy.
This wine, however, is terrific. The big, bold bouquet is so exquisite that I didn’t want to take my nose out of the glass to taste the wine!
On the palate, this wine is rich and smooth. It is absolutely ready to drink right now, and would probably only be improved by another year or two in the bottle. According to the C&S website, it’s good to drink “now through 2015”. I have no doubt this would be a terrific wine to cellar for a year or two more, but it’s good enough now that I expect we’ll be picking up another bottle or two for “now” drinking.
This wine retails for $35 and is a solid value at that price point.
Rating: 8.5/10
That’s a lot of info on one wine; imagine if I provided that much detail on EVERY wine I’ve reviewed on this site? I’m not sure the exact number of reviews, but once I have finished compiling them into a spreadsheet, I’ll have an idea. It will be around 3000, maybe more. But that’s a story for another day. For today, let’s take a look back at the 10 best wines I have reviewed on this site over the last decade!
Starting up the countdown just down the road in Washington State, where they make some pretty damn fine Cabernet, I must say!
At #9, we’ll stay in the US and go a bit further down the coast, to find my top-rated Syrah!
Eighth up, another spectacular wine that looks pretty similar to the 10th entry on this list!
At #7, some would call this the “King of wines”, and there’s nothing really comparable to a really special Barolo. This was the very first Barolo I ever had, and I’ve never had it’s equal.
Coming in at #6, the best Chardonnay I’ve ever had. I’m still dreaming of this one.
At #5, a spectacular wine from a winery you have likely all heard of, one of Napa’s best!
At #4, a wine my wife says I underrated. Yes, underrated. Pinot doesn’t get much better than this. NOTHING gets much better than this.
Coming in at #3, the closest I have ever come to giving a table wine 100 points!
If you know me at all, it won’t surprise you to see that numbers 1 and 2 are both Ice wines. Since I can’t really choose between the two, let’s call it a “perfect tie”.
That’s it for today ! Thanks for reading this blog, and thanks for coming along on this crazy journey, whether or not you’ve been with me for years or this is your first time visiting; I appreciate it and home you’ve had fun.
Next up: Wines I’ve featured on the vlog recently get the full blog treatment and reviews. Stay tuned!
So, we hosted what was, I think, our 3rd “Big Hunks of Meat” night which is basically just an excuse to invite friends over and drink a bunch of red wine that we have been holding onto and never seem to open ourselves. I didn’t take notes, so I was only able to remember characteristics of a few bottles, but trust me, many great bottles were enjoyed! Actually, in all honesty I think only one of these bottles was actually from “BHOM” night, but the other two were enjoyed recently as well and really could have been good additions as well 🙂
As well, here are reviews of all the wine from my recent “Various Varietals” vlog, featuring part 2 of my Chardonnay episode. ICYMI, you can catch it here.
From my most recent entry of “BC vs. the World”, a BC Bordeaux blend handily triumphed over an actual Bordeaux! That video can be seen here.
This victory actually puts BC up 3-2 in the latest 7-match series. Can they close it out next time? We’ll see!!
From my vlog in Seattle, where we had a great meal at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and enjoyed some great wine in our spectacular hotel suite on the way to Vegas…..if you missed that one, you can see it here.
That’s it for today! Up next: I have two more vlogs that will be posted in the next week or so: Episode 1 of the 2022 rosés, as well as another entry in the “Extravagant and Excellent” series! Those review will be posted here as well eventually. Also, I have a lot more good stuff to review here on the blog, and I’m working on something special, as we are about one month away from the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this blog! TEN YEARS! Insane!
I admit, I was pretty skeptical that wine from Chilliwack grapes would be very good. We attended this tasting last year and were quite impressed with most of the wine we tasted. This year, the wines were even better!
If you want to see how these compare to last year, that post is here.
Back after a 4-year absence, a Pinot Gris rose. I am not sure I’ve ever had a Pinot Gris rosé before? It’s unmistakably rosé, and unmistakable Pinot Gris!
Next up: a grape you generally find in Switzerland, and this year’s version was a vast improvement over last year’s. We were told by multiple people that this one really ages beautifully in the medium term, 2-5 years, so we took one home and will cellar it for a few years and see.
Last but certainly not least, a slightly off-dry winner that we really enjoyed last year and this vintage as well. La Crescent is a hybrid grape generally found in the Eastern US, especially the Finger Lakes region of New York. This year they added 15% L’Acadie, which is often called Nova Scotia’s signature white wine variety. Perfect as a patio pounder!
Lovely people and pretty darn good wine, I highly recommend you stop in next time you are in, or driving through, Chilliwack!
Next up! Rosé season is here and part 1 of my rosé reviews are upcoming, plus some reviews of wines that have been features in recent YouTube videos. Stay tuned!!
Confessions of a Huge Wine-R 