Category Archives: EMPTIED BOTTLES

Here reside my bottle breakdowns. These reviews provide information about each wine’s context: history, geography, value, etc., and composition: from appearance and aromas, to sweetness, acidity, tannin, body, length, flavors and quality within its type. Each review features a chart where I rank the wine’s qualities (e.g. light, medium, or full bodied) according to the Wine and Spirit Education Trust’s tasting guide. These are snapshots of a wine and reviewer. Don’t be surprised if the wine and your perception of it change. Use this data to buy and taste wine with purpose.

Stop worrying if a wine is bad or good. Judgment only describes the judge. Instead, treat each wine, each bottle, even each sip as a meeting unique unto itself. Find new wines here to stretch your mind and palate.

Open bottle. Open mind.

Port, Warre’s Late Bottled Vintage, Portugal 2000

Posted on March 28, 2011 by waywardwine

While bitter winter still slips through window seams, turn to Port. Nothing warms an evening’s end better. Styles range from cheap and charming non-vintage Ruby to decades-old Vintage Ports. Somewhere in the middle are Late Bottled Vintage Ports, like Warre’s 2000 LBV. British … Continue reading →

Posted in Port | Tagged Awesome, bellydancer, bottle, Late Bottled Vintage, LBV, Port, Port wine, Portugal, Vintage, Warre's, wine, Wine tasting descriptors | 1 Comment

Grenache Blend, Bonny Doon Vineyard, Le Cigare Volant, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, Earth 2004

Posted on March 21, 2011 by waywardwine

One should never drink and vlog, but considering that half the bottle is gone, my memory served me decently here. To clarify, the Chateauneuf-du-Pape AOC has allowed 18 grapes since 2009, although 13 has been industry standard since 1936. Cigare … Continue reading →

Posted in Grenache Blend, Red | Tagged Bonny Doon Vineyard, California, Chateauneuf du Pape, Cinsaut, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Pacific Rim, Rhône wine, Syrah, wine, Wine tasting descriptors | 3 Comments

Nebbiolo, Palmina, Santa Barbara County CA 2005

Posted on March 8, 2011 by waywardwine

Palmina‘s nebbiolo will enchant you into almost believing it is Italian. Steve and Chrystal Clifton manage this finicky Piedmontese grape in Santa Barbara with a deft touch. If you’ve drunk Barbaresco or Barolo, you know nebbiolo. The two communes in … Continue reading →

Posted in Nebbiolo, Red | Tagged barbaresco, Barolo, California, italy, nebbiolo, palmina, pinot noir, Produttori del Barbaresco, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara California | 2 Comments

Cava, Dibon Brut Reserve, Catalunya, Spain NV

Posted on March 3, 2011 by waywardwine

Drink this Cava. Agricola Dibon has overseen an amusing sparkler that outpaces its price ($9-11) in quality. This sparkling wine comes from Vilafranca del Penedes: Spain’s sparkling homeland of Catalonia in the northeast. Their 75 hectares of trellised vines are … Continue reading →

Posted in Cava | Tagged Bodegas Pinord, Catalonia, cava, Parellada, Spain, Spanish wine, Sparkling wine, Wine tasting descriptors, Xarel·lo | 5 Comments

Chateau Frank, Blanc de Blancs, Finger Lakes, NY 2006

Posted on February 3, 2011 by waywardwine

New York sparkling wine might sound oximoronic. But some of the best places for bubbly are cold and miserable. Take the region of Champagne, for example. It sits around latitude 49. The average temperature is 50. The Finger Lakes are … Continue reading →