Tag: white wine


Jun
2017

Hugues Beauvignac Picpoul de Pinet 2015

categories: Booze, Wine

Personally, I first learned about Picpoul from winemaker (and kindred spirit) Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyards. He told me that Picpoul literally translates “lip stinger” — and let’s just say that as a lover of lemons, limes, and all sour candies (remember Shockers?), I was immediately taken aback by the power and intensity of the light and lively wine this Santa Cruz winemaker had to offer. So I was more than delighted to dive right into a bottle from varietal’s namesake region, Picpoul-Pinet.

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Jun
2017

te Pa Oke 2015 Sauvignon Blanc

categories: Booze, Wine

The Wairu Valley, another sub-region of New Zealand’s Marlborough wine country, is one the MacDonald family knows well, as their own little island of te Pa sits along the Wiaru Bar — where the Wairau River meets the sea. It’s a place the family has inhabited, land the family has cultivated, for the past 800 years.

Here, the land closest to the water is predominantly gravely riverbed soils, and the climate benefits from quite a bit of rainfall. Inland vineyards tend to be drier, and still cooler, and the soil quite stony, resulting in early-ripening grapes in some sites. The sub-region is known to produce fruit-forward wines. Of course that all depends on the vineyard and the vintner. te Pa Oke Sauvignon Blanc certainly takes a different approach.

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Jun
2017

Robert Sinskey 2013 Pinot Blanc

categories: Booze, Wine

Robert Sinskey is my kind of winemaker — a native Californian who has his BA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design in New York City. He’s not science-y, or mathematical, or calculating; he doesn’t have a degree or certificate in horticulture, enology or even biology. In fact he’s never received a “traditional” winemaking “degree” of any kind. He’s an artist who brings his artistic abilities to his craft as a vintner.

Sinskey’s goal is to create “pure wines of character that pair well with cuisine,” and believes that good wines are the wines that “sneak up on you, seduce you, and evolve in the glass and in the bottle.” I told you, he’s my kind of winemaker.

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Jun
2017

Passaggio Wines 2016 Grenache Blanc

categories: Booze, Wine

I’ve been lucky to have worked alongside some very talented Rhône-style rockstar winemakers. And Cindy Cosco, owner and winemaker of Passaggio, is one such lady. Though I wouldn’t say she has a specific ‘niche,’ she does amazing things with those Rhône grapes and her 2016 expression of Grenache Blanc is a perfect example.

Whereas less refined expressions of the grape seem to be overly dramatic with the fruit flavors, downplaying the textural components, Cindy has crafted a well-rounded Grenache Blanc drinking experience that taps all the senses.

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