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Summer and warm weather are fast approaching and that means, so is barbecue season. Nothing is better than gathering in the outdoors on a beautiful day with some friends and having a cookout. For most barbecues the standard beverages of choice are cold beer and soft drinks, but do not overlook a nice bottle of Chianti to class up the proceedings.
Chianti is a blend of grapes (75-100% Sangiovese, up to 10% Canaiolo, and up to 20% of any other grape variety including Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot, or Syrah). It is the red table wine of choice in Italy and
Cecchi 2010 Chianti
by Dennis Mayer May 17th, 2013 | Budget-Friendly Wine Review
Good wine finds you in strange places sometimes. I've bought my review bottles for the past couple of weeks from a variety/convenience store around the corner. I shop there regularly for odds and ends, but always figured the wine section would be nothing but cheap Yellow Tail and the like. And yes, they have those wines, but in the $10-$15 range, they've had several great options. Don't judge a book, I suppose.
Today's wine passes one of my subjective (and probably useless) authenticity tests -- it has a foreign-language website (in this case, Italian) that needs to be translated. If you'll
Today's wine passes one of my subjective (and probably useless) authenticity tests -- it has a foreign-language website (in this case, Italian) that needs to be translated. If you'll
Bodegas Barco de Piedra 2011 Ribera del Duero
by Dennis Mayer May 7th, 2013 | Budget-Friendly Wine Review
Sometimes a wine seems a bit more mysterious than it actually is. I selected this week's bottle because I'd never heard of anything on the front label, and I figured it'd be fun to research and interesting to taste. Turns out this week's wine is named after its home region, much like Bordeaux or Burgundy. Ribera del Duero is a winemaking region just north of the center of Spain.
This particular Ribera del Duero is a 100 percent temperanillo. We've written about the grape before, so we don't get any credit for novelty here. The
This particular Ribera del Duero is a 100 percent temperanillo. We've written about the grape before, so we don't get any credit for novelty here. The
SYL Brut (NV)
by Jane Wangersky May 3rd, 2013 | Sparkling Wine, Wine
SYL stands for "See ya later", which is supposedly the entire text of a note written by Major Hugh Fraser's wife when she left him. But then, there's "a rich mix of truth and fiction" about the Major still circulating in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. What seems certain is that he lived on his ranch there for many years, loved dogs, threw great parties, and was the first to plant grapes in the area. Today, See Ya Later Ranch produces wines whose labels show a dog with wings and a halo. Taking the Major's legacy seriously, it
La Fiera 2012 Pinot Grigio
by Dennis Mayer April 26th, 2013 | Italian Wine, Wine
Pinot grigio -- pinot gris in French -- is, of course, a white wine produced in several regions using the pino grigio (or gris) variety of grape. La Fiera comes from the Veneto region of Italy, where it's bottled by Casa Vinicola Botter. Though that name sounds more like a German or Alsatian vintner's, the company website tells us the Botter family has been bottling wine in Italy for three generations. They strive to use environmentally friendly techniques and innovative ideas.
How does it look? This pinot grigio is a light green somewhere between mint and straw, with a light
How does it look? This pinot grigio is a light green somewhere between mint and straw, with a light