Sometimes you need to go off the reservation and choose a wine from some rater you’ve never heard of before. That was my though when I grabbed this one. What the heck. The wine is deep in color with a lovely nose of dark fruits. On the mid pallet are some flavors to match the [...]

Burgundy, France, is the epicenter of the Chardonnay grape’s world, but the world itself has taken on this white grape as it’s own. Chardonnay is one the most widely grown grape varieties in the world and can be found pretty much anywhere wine is made. The problem with this, of course, is a bunch of [...]

Critter wines are all the rage, put some silly animal on the label and some folks will buy it. This one is medium dark in color very fruity on the nose. Lots of sweet almost Merlot like smells coming off it. I was getting excited. Perhaps I have found an inexpensive easily available Merlot! On [...]

This is another wine from Wine Spectator’s top 100 of 2009 and it came in at #39 and they gave it a 92 for $19US. The wine is quite pale in color mild on the nose with some varietal Viognier smells. This wine turned out to be very sensitive to temperature. When I first took [...]

This one came to my attention as #54 of the top 100 Wines of 2009 from Wine Spectator. They gave it a 91 for $16US. The wine is quite dark in color, very fragrant with lots of cassis and cherries leaping out at you. On the mid pallet are some lovely flavors to match the [...]

We stopped by Seaons in Oakville for a little birthday celebration and the proprietor treated us to this bottle that he has had in their extensive wine cellar for a LONG time. The wine is dark in color mild on the nose. On the mid pallet are some mild classic cab flavors with black fruits. [...]

We were over at a friends house for dinner and this one was being served. As we all know the difference between a Shiraz and a Syrah is style and terroir. Aussie has a reputation for making some peppery shiraz’s so I had this in mind when I was thinking about this wine. I was [...]

We headed up to Millcroft Inn for some rest and relaxation this past weekend. We discovered they have a lovely restaurant with a well stocked wine cellar. Jeff the manager there, a German fellow, was very knowledgeable in wines. They even had a Grüner Veltliner on the wine list. Impressive selection. I was having rare [...]

I attended the Food and Wine show last night. This is one of the largest I’ve been to. The size is quite incredible. The event actually does feature both food and wine. There are even cooking demonstrations and wine chats going on that you can register for as well. The event is held annually at [...]

This wine presented some challenges for me. On the nose there are lots of traditional cab smells. Lovely deep rich cassis, cherries and other dark fruits and there is something there. Not awful just not perfect. On the mid pallet the flavors match the bouquet. There are lots of deep rich cab flavors, cassis, cherries, [...]

The thing I enjoy about attending structured tastings like this one is that it serves to further refine my knowledge and appreciation of wine. Sometimes it even destroys misconceptions I have.
Shiraz and Syrah are two different names for the same grape. The difference between the two is the style in the way the wine [...]

This was the second reception wine at Society for American Wine’s Shiraz/Syrah tasting event. The wine is pale in color with some mild sulphur on the nose. Not to the point of smelling a match (which I have had before), but it was there. The wine is quite mild in flavor, some slight butteryness, [...]

Stopped by Spice route for dinner last night and my dinner guest had this one. The wine is typical inky dark, very mild on the nose. On the mid pallet there is the usual fruit flavors and on the long finish is lots of typical Aussie pepper. No mistaking this wine. Some alcohol is prevalent, [...]

Since I have just returned from my voyage to the outback (yes the real outback) I figured I would do a fast blog on this wine we opened tonight. We bought this on our trip back in October and really we had no plans to open one anytime soon. But with limited space (read no [...]

With our recent trip to Barossa firmly in my head this evening as I plan for a work trip to the land down under, I decided I needed to try at least one bottle that we picked up in Oz. I jumped into the cellar (well mentally I did) and came out with this offering [...]