What’s in your glass? Not just the kind of grape, but what’s really in it? Is it grape juice and natural yeast, or colorings, flavoring, sugar and preservatives? This week, we take a trip to Total Wine to check out the vast variety of control brands sold there, and how to identify them. Are they inherently worse than terroir-driven wines? We don’t make that judgment (sort of): that’s up to you. But if you’re the type who likes to look behind the curtain and see how the (wine) sausage is made, you’ll want to check this out.
And that’s what’s really at the heart of this decision: I can’t shake this story or these characters. It’s what I always come back to. So, I think this is The Universe trying to tell me something: finish this story before you move on to something else. And so I will.
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… Read More »Clay Shannon Cabernet Sauvignon
