AG Pick: Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Merlot 2008

The Amateur Gastronomer has predicted that 2012 will see the return of Merlot. Why? In the years following the movie “Sideways,” California winemakers have revamped how they produce Merlot wine. Careful attention has been paid to how the grape is grown, when it is harvested and how the wine is crafted. The latest releases focus [...]

It’s Time for Wine: Simi, Continuum & Guilliams

By Monty and Sara Preiser “If God forbade drinking, would He have made wine so good?” – Cardinal Richeleu Simi is Excitingly Resurgent From time to time over the past two decades the wines at Simi have been lauded as industry leaders. Yet for some reason there never seemed to be the consistency in production [...]

Simply Italian: Tasting Notes from the Italian Wine Tour

By Maxine Howard Italian winemakers and their representatives took over the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco earlier this autumn for the Simply Italian great wine tour. With stops in Chicago and Las Vegas, the tour offered the chance to share the wide variety of magic Italian winemakers weave with their grapes. More than fifty [...]

Why Decant Wine?

The holidays are the time of year when you break out the good wine — and that often leads to questions about if and when you should decant a wine. Decanters, while not essential to enjoying wine, are pretty handy tools to have. They can be used for both old and young wines. So why [...]

A Trio of Ravenswood Zinfandel — Great Pairing for Your Holiday Meal

Zinfandel makes a great pairing with holiday meals. Flavors that range from bright and fruity to dark and spicy make Zinfandel an extremely food-friendly red wine, whether you’re serving turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables or beyond. If your holiday get together also includes a variety of tastes when it comes to wine, Ravenswood has [...]

A Taste of the Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2011

Le Beaujolais Nouveau 2011 est arrivé! Beaujolais Nouveau is produced in the Beaujolais region of Burgundy in France. In accordance with French law it is released on the third Thursday in November — November 17, 2011. Beaujolais Nouveau is a light bodied red wine made entirely from Gamay grapes. It pairs well with turkey, ham [...]

(Not So) Scary Wines for Halloween

Give your palate a scare this Halloween with some frightening wines. There’s really nothing spooky about these wines — they just may not be as familiar to you as other reds and whites. So go ahead, try something new.  You may be scared how much you enjoy them!   Bull’s Blood Bull’s Blood is the [...]

Introducing the 2011 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau

Click for the 2011 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau tasting notes Here it is, your first look at the 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau from Georges Duboeuf. The label art is almost as anticipated as the wine; Georges Duboeuf has a different theme each year along with a colorful and creative label. Click bottles to enlarge image. This [...]

AG Pick: Quivira Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2009

It may seem odd that a winery would use its foe as label art, but Quivira has done just that. The animal pictured is one of the Dry Creek Valley’s wild pigs, a cross of the Russian boars and Italian pigs that were brought to the United States in the 1800s. Though seemingly cute and [...]

Harvest in the Jura

The month of September brings splashes of color to the vineyards in the Jura. The grape leaves start to turn orange and brown. Large yellow and purple grape clusters wait to be harvested. Men and women move up and down the rows picking fruit while red tractors wait nearby to transport it. Jura is a [...]