Taking the world one wine at a time.
Grape Zinfandel, but there’s probably very small amounts of a few other grapes thrown in there, also… Facts Four Vines was established by a guy named Christian Tietje, who originally started out as a chef in Boston. In the 90’s he moved to San Francisco, with big dreams of becoming a winemaker (as you do). From there, he cut his teeth as cellar-master at Carneros Creek in Napa, and furthered his wine education under “Wine…
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Grape 46% Garnacha, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 2% Syrah. Facts Ahhhh Priorat! My favorite of all Spanish wines! I tasted my first Priorat back in 2005, and I remember it being my true-awakening to Spanish wine! I’ve since come around to enjoy the majority of styles coming out of Spain, but I will say; if you’re a “New World” wine drinker (i.e. everything from outside of Europe), Priorat is going to be…
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Wine: Heart Smart “For Giving” Mount Veeder Cabernet, 2008. Grape: Cabernet Place: Mount Veeder, Napa, California. Price: $90 (available from www.HeartSmartwine.com)
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Grape 70% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre Facts I do have to say, I’ve always had an affinity for Chateauneuf-du-Pape, even before I started really getting into wine. Maybe it’s because, for some reason, I deemed it to be my first “serious” bottle of vino. I’ve always thought of Chateauneuf to be almost stuck in time. Whereas most other wine regions of the world have seen at least a partial amount of modernization;…
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Wine: Vina Robles Grape: Sauvignon Blanc Place: Jardine Vineyard, Paso Robles, California Price: $16 (retail)
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Grape 100% Cabernet Facts Peggy Rowan is the visionary behind HeartSmart. This Cabernet was inspired by her love for animals, and specifically the Great Dane breed. “They’re big, bold and beautiful—which happen to be the same qualities I love about Cabernet Sauvignon.” in Peggy’s own words. The 2008 Great Dane won the Gold Medal at this year’s San Francisco International Wine Competition. Ann Ruth, is the remarkable artist behind the HeartSmart wine…
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Grape 100% Gamay Facts The Chateau des Capitans Julienas is made by the Beaujolais-pimp himself, Georges Duboeuf. He’s in his late-70’s now, but still heads the company. Must be all that wine he drinks! It’s estimated that around 1/3 of the entire harvest of the Beaujolais region is sold as Beaujolais Nouveau. Duboeuf produces over 2.5 million cases of wine annually. There are only 37,000 hectares (142 sq miles) of Gamay…
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Grape 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Petit Verdot. Facts It’s quite unusual that such a high % of Petit Verdot (by itself) is added to a Cab, even though it is one of the “Bordeaux grapes”. Petite Verdot is thought to even pre-date Cabernet in Bordeaux. The grape bears juice which is rich in color, high in tannins, spicy, and when young is said to give an aroma of bananas. The 2008 vintage of the…
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Grapes 100% Pedro Ximenez, (but just call it “PX” if you want to sound cool and trendy…and I know you do). Facts Kind of like Port, I find Sherry-style wines more suited for chilly weather. It always reminds me of Christmas for some reason… Established in 1729, Alvear is one of Spain’s most prestigious and internationally acclaimed Bodegas. The family is in its eighth generation. | Sherry wines go through a Solera aging system. A…
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Grapes Carignane, Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache and Viognier (probably in that order, %’s unknown). The term “Synchronicity” refers to a “meaningful mix of seemingly unrelated events resulting in a significant sum”, which was the inspiration for this red wine blend of grapes which aren’t commonly seen together. Facts Quite unbelievably, Sting is actually hand-harvesting all the grapes himself from this “Synchronicity-blend”. He also serves as winemaker; and can regularly be seen in the…
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Grape 100% Malbec Facts The name of “Malbec” supposedly comes from the surname of a Hungarian peasant who is attributed with being the first person to spread the variety throughout all of France. If you were to ever check-out the big nerdy wine book that is The Oxford Companion to Wine, you’ll find that there are over 400 different names for the Malbec grape! This proving that the grapes’ popularity isn’t just a recent…
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Grapes 80% Grenache 15% Syrah 5% Cinsault Facts I have a special little place in my heart for Gigondas, it was one of the first bottles that really got me into the world of wine. The name Gigondas [jhee-gon-dahs] comes from the Latin Jocunditas meaning “great pleasure”, as the region was home to many Roman Legions as an area of recreation. Grenache is always the main grape in red Gigondas, and is not permitted…
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