Tag Archives: California

Wine Geek Gift: Spätburgunder (aka Pinot Noir), August Kesseler, “Pinot N”, Pfalz, Germany 2010

Posted on December 12, 2013 by waywardwine

Your wine geek wakes early, runs downstairs, and to their delight, finds something green and red-capped beneath the tree.

The slender bottle looks German. “Mmm…Riesling”, they think. Then, on closer inspection, their head explodes like a Christmas craker:

Yes. Pinot Noir. From Germany.

Now German wine usually evokes rough memories of cheap Riesling:

Yet Germany ranks third in the world for Pinot Noir acreage (30,000, just behind France and the US). The problem is, Germans drink most of it. Meanwhile, they pulled the Blue Nun’s veil of Riesling over our eyes. We could only assume that they made nothing but sweet yet tart whites.

No more! Treat you and yours this holiday with German Pinot. Continue reading →

Posted in Pinot Noir, Red | Tagged Alsace, August Kesseler, Blue Nun, California, DDR, France, Germany, goat cheese, Kesseler, Oregon, pinot noir, riesling, Spätburgunder, Vosges Mountains, Wine Geek | 2 Comments

QUADY NORTH, SYRAH, 4-2, A, ROGUE VALLEY, OREGON 2008 $25

Posted on October 17, 2013 by waywardwine

I met Herb last week. He stood behind a table, in a black shirt and cap. His wines lined up in front of him. Nothing else. Flanking him towered suit and tie representatives from Oregon’s famed Pinot Noir producers. They had flyers, business cards, banners, and slideshows of vineyard porn on small screens.

I tried their wines, heard their soliloquies, but kept returning to Herb. His black, cracked hands poured each bottle. He said even less. I felt that he itched to return to his vines, tanks, and family in Southern, Oregon. Continue reading →

Posted in Red, Syrah | Tagged Australia, Bonny Doon Vineyard, California, Crozes-Hermitage, Herb Quady, Oregon, pinot noir, Quady North, Randall Graham, ROGUE VALLEY, San Francisco, Syrah, Valley Vineyards | 1 Comment

CARLTON CRUSH: WINE HARVEST FESTIVAL

Posted on September 19, 2013 by waywardwine

With Summer burning records (and ripening grapes) throughout the North West, we drive to 2013’s grape harvest festival of Yamhill-Carlton AVA: The Carlton Crush.

The endless auburn fields and early harvests remind of California or Tuscany, not the great, green Northwest. Continue reading →

Posted in Oregon, WINERIES WANDERED | Tagged Bacchus, barrel roll, California, Carlton, Carlton Crush, drink, Food, Grape, Harvest festival, Northwest, Northwest wine, Oregon, Recreation, Tuscany, Willamette Valley, wine, wine theif, Yamhill-Carlton AVA | 1 Comment

Negrette, Peyres de Loubert, Fronton, France 2009: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #27

Posted on June 30, 2013 by waywardwine

I stare hard at the grocery wine aisle in Dublin’s Marks & Spencer. What looks weird, new, cheap but decent? I spot a French bottle. Good. Peyres de Loubert makes it. Good. The funny guy hefting a barrel on the … Continue reading →

Posted in EMPTIED BOTTLES, Négrette, Red | Tagged bacon, Blackrock, brett, California, Cyprus, Dublin, France, Fronton, Grey rot, Loire Valley, Madame Piaf, Marks & Spencer, Marks and Spencer, Mavro, Négrette, oidium, Peyres de Loubert, South West France, wine | 2 Comments

Syrah “Cuvée”, Edward Sellers, Paso Robles, CA USA 2005

Posted on February 6, 2012 by waywardwine

Edward Sellers. Oh, I get it. Sellers. Cellars. Har, har. What clever consultant group cooked that up? Probably the same who thought: well, people like cake and bread. Let’s call it Cakebread Cellars. Brilliant! Wait. What? They’re both real winemakers? … Continue reading →