I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how I won’t be tasting “new” wines any more and reviewing them; at least, I won’t be reviewing wines that aren’t ready for prime time.  The wines are good, but if it’s not ready to drink, how can anyone give a good judgment about the wine in its youth?

I had decided to drink a bottle of one of my “good,” relatively aged wines over the Labor Day weekend.  I found a 2004 Linne Calodo Outsider resting in my Haier wine cooler (the “I Can’t Believe I Spent That Much on Wine” cooler), and decided to enjoy it.

First, let me explain the concept of aging.  A really “good” wine from a classic wine area that’s known to improve with age can do so – up to 30 years, more for vintage Ports.  I’m going to be 60 my next birthday.  Do I want to spend a gazillion dollars for a wine that will be good enough to drink in ten or more years, possibly “peaking” in 25? Uh. No.

… Continue Reading

The hardest thing about doing wine review tastings is that you usually have to taste pretty young wines.  These young wines are not bad – especially the ones I go out of my way to taste; life is too short for bad wine – but they’re not as good as they’re going to be.  And that can be a real problem, especially when you know that the wine that you’re drinking OUT OF YOUR OWN CELLAR is going to be sooo much better in just a couple of years.

One of the complaints I’ve received about my occasional tasting notes and/or videos is that I’m tasting wines that sometimes cannot be purchased anywhere any more.  I would like to say I’m sorry, but I’m really not.  At least not from my standpoint. I always enjoy doing tastings of wines that I like and that I know I’m going to be finishing once the tasting notes or video are done.

Let me explain.

… Continue Reading

Geez, Irene!  Why do you have to disappear all the time?  Can’t you hang out for a while even once?!?

When I started this several weeks ago – I’m embarrassed – there was a lot going on. I just added a word here and there and didn’t get to finish the most important posting of the year – the first one.

I’m going to go over a few events in 2010 that affected me, Vegas Wineaux, and the local wine scene in general.

First, the Vegas Wineaux Wine Club has absolutely exploded. New members, assistant organizers (I can’t do it by myself), a variety of events, both in home and public, have seen incredible participation and enthusiasm.  The club purchased a barrel from the Grape Expectations Nevada School of Winemaking, and we’re very excited about bottling our own wine this year!  We are also tentatively planning a meetup in May at the Paso Robles Wine Festival, and I can hardly wait!

… Continue Reading

Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator are arguably the burly boys of the wine magazine world. They and their tasters can make or break the reputation of a winery (deserved or not…but that’s a debate that will never be resolved) by the flick of a pen. Or tapping of a keyboard as the case may be. Their tasting notes, ratings, and recommendations are read avidly by millions of wine fans, and we all look forward to their yearly Top 100 lists.

It is no secret that I’m quite the Paso Robles wine aficionado. What they do with Zinfandel and Rhône blends is terrific, but it’s more than that.  The talented winemakers there also do amazing things with grapes sourced outside of the region.  For instance, Hug Cellars makes some of the best Pinots I’ve ever tasted, and the grapes are sourced from various coastal areas. Other wineries, such as Sculpterra, Villicana, Ecluse, Estrella, and more, have estate-grown wines, right in the Paso Robles AVA. Quality grapes plus passionate winemaking equals great – if unheralded – wine.

… Continue Reading

At first I was overjoyed! An article about tasting the best Zinfandels, rated by the well-respected group at Snooth!

I’m a Paso Robles Zinfandel fan, and I grabbed some popcorn as I prepared gleefully for the carnage. Paso Zins were going to kick some serious Napa butt, right? But as I read through the article – with horror, I might add – that was not to be. Not because Paso Zins were bad. They just weren’t invited to the party.

Oh, they weren’t left out completely. EOS 2007 Zinfandel - which is 15% Petit Sirah – and Candor with a NV Zin, were, like the new kids in the neighborhood who are a little strange and smell funny,  just allowed to stand in the corner. They were nodded at, and their rich, influential brethren weren’t even considered. Kind of like how I choos

Overlooking the city of Paso Robles.

e ex-husbands.

I was stunned. There were 28 wines tasted, and the top ten spots were gobbled up largely by the Napa/Sonoma group. Don’t get me wrong…I know that they have good(ish) Zins up there. But geez, Snooth! What were you thinking!?!

… Continue Reading