Tag: red wine


Sep
2017

Chateau St. Jean 2013 Durell Vineyard Syrah

categories: Booze, Wine

I dedicate this post to my partner in wine crime, without whom this site and my very career as a wine writer wouldn’t exist. I wasn’t always a writer — believe it or not, I wasn’t always a wine lover. But one thing he and I had in common right from the beginning of our relationship was the joy we both found in the kitchen. That joy increased exponentially when we started cooking together. I may have been the first in the relationship to ask, “What wine would pair with this?” but it’s only through both our inquisitive minds and insatiable curiosity about all things cuisine, that I’ve gotten as far as I have.

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Sep
2017

Crux Winery 2011 Zinfandel

categories: Booze, Wine

I like prime numbers. A prime number is unbreakable — only divisible by itself and 1. Some may say they don’t play well with others; I say they’re strong enough to stand on their own. I find I have some kind of spiritual connection to prime numbers. We’re weird, we don’t fit into conventional puzzle pieces, a lot of people don’t “get” us, and even more people don’t even know what or who we are. We hide in plain sight and are the answer to “can you tell me which thing is not like the other?”

…I also find that meaningful things happen to me when I am a prime number age…

In 2011 — a prime year — the Russian River Valley experienced unconventional climatic conditions that, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t have worked. But it did — not for everyone, but for some vintners. And when I tasted the Crux Winery 2011 Zinfandel the first time I visited the boys in their warehouse winery, this was the wine I felt a deep, undeniably emotional connection to.

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Sep
2017

Three Arches 2014 Trefoil – Right Bank Bordeaux-style Blend

categories: Booze, Wine

I was born and raised in San Francisco. To me, a breath of fresh air includes sea salt and seaweed; a warm day is in the high-sixties; and seafood is always fresh because, well, there’s just no excuse. But as life’s twists and turns would have it, I’ve found myself living in the South Bay. Now, fresh air only happens in the early hours of the pre-dawn; a warm day can be triple-digits; and any fresh seafood is that which I can find at a Safeway or Whole Foods. I don’t mesh with this tech culture, where the word “park” is preceded by the word “business.” Where’s the art? Where’s the unique forms of self-expression? Where are my people?

Every once in awhile I’ll find an answer to those questions. When I met the folks at Three Arches Winery in Sunnyvale, I found all three — art, meets unique, meets people with a passion beyond the silicon chip…

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Sep
2017

Royal Rabbit Il Barone 2015 Barbera

categories: Booze, Wine

I am admittedly quite unfamiliar with East Coast wines, especially when it comes to the little state of Maryland. So when Roy Albin of Royal Rabbit Vineyards invited me to taste his wines, I was both enthused and curious. Flipping through books and scouring the internet, I had trouble finding any solid, reputable information on Maryland as a wine country. So I turned to Roy, not just for a wine tasting, but for a bit of terroir background as well. 

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Aug
2017

Y.Rousseau 2014 Pepé Merlot

categories: Booze, Wine

Born and raised in the South West of France, it’s no wonder Yannick Rousseau, owner and winemaker of Y. Rousseau Wines, was bit by the winemaking bug as early as 5 years old. That’s when he and his grandfather, Pépé shared their first glass of homemade red wine together. According to Yannick, “Pépé hunted his own food, made his own wine, and was an artisan butcher.” With such a role model in his life, Yannick, too, has become a man who celebrates the bounty of the environment around him. The Y.Rousseau 2014 Pepé Merlot from Cavedale Vineyard is a nod to Yannick’s connection to his grandfather, his French country homeland, and his New World wine country.

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