What I’m Drinking

DRNK Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley is an everyday chardonnay that doesn’t assault the mouth with butter and oak, forcing you to call the Malo Police.

When the good folks at The Wine Spies sent this wine for me to try, I was hesitant at first. As you probably surmised from my glowing review of the Beekeeper Zinfandel, I like my zins spicy, not syrupy. So when they told me, “this is not an intellectual wine,” I took it as code for, “this is not a good wine.”

There’s a reason Parker gave this 93 Points. This is not a deeply intellectual wine. It’s more like a “crush this with a cheeseburger” kind of wine. And then feel really good about it afterward.

Bacio Divino scores (literally) with another amazing Cabernet from a renown vineyard in a gorgeous appellation, made by a rock star winemaker. The fact that you can get it from The Wine Spies for 47% off is just icing on the cake. Or skin on the grape, as the case may be.

Skinner Vineyards Grenache is one sexy wine. And not just because it has sexy vowel sounds, like “ahh” and sexy consonant sounds, like “Shh.” Or even because if you leave the K out of Skinner it spells “Sinner.” It because of the grapes. And all… Read More »2017 Skinner Vineyards Grenache, El Dorado Hills

I hate the term “drinkable,” as in, “this wine is so drinkable.” It’s not like we use the word “edible” to describe food. “Wow, this chicken is so edible.” But if the term has come to mean, “I can drink this today and don’t have to wait five years,” then I’m going to go for it.

Is Port worth the wait? When it’s the 2016 Dow’s Vintage Port, the answer is a resounding yes, even if we’re talking 60 years from now.

The 2016 Altocedro Gran Riserva Malbec es muy loco, but in all the good ways. To start, Altocedro harvests from 70-year-old vines from a 107-year-old vineyard. Not unusual, especially for Mendoza malbec. BUT, then they take the harvested Malbec in whole clusters and barrel co-ferment with 4% Semillon in French oak.

The 2017 Clay Shannon Cabernet Sauvignon is almost equal parts Napa Valley and Lake County fruit, but is definitely100% Cabernet and 100% amazeballs. The featured wine pairing of episode 81: Pairs With Clay Shannon Cabernet and My Super Weird Neighbor Value Cabernet From Lake County… Read More »Clay Shannon Cabernet Sauvignon