This 100% Barbera was tank fermented and then aged in French oak barriques for 13 months. The color is a rich medium...
Beni di Batasiolo, Barbera d’Alba (Piedmont, Italy) 2009
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Gerald D. Boyd
Beni di Batasiolo, Barbaresco (Piedmont, Italy) 2008
Barbaresco has sometimes been described as “Baby Barolo,” but Fiorenzo Dogliani, in a non P.C. mood, says that...
Shafer, Stags Leap District (Napa Valley, California) Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
One Point Five is a Shafer family inside name coined by John and Doug Shafer to describe their long father-son...
Handley Cellars, Anderson Valley (Mendocino Co., California) 2009
The RSM Vineyard was planted at elevations between 800 and 1,000 feet in 1999 and 2001, giving the wine an intensity not...
Handley Cellars, Mendocino (Mendocino County, California) Pinot Noir 2009
Half of the fruit for this juicy Pinot came Potter Valley, an inland valley at 1,000 feet elevation, the other half came...
Handley Cellars, Anderson Valley (Mendocino County, California) Pinot Noir 2009
Few red wines get the cellar treatment like Pinot Noir. For this luscious Pinot crushed clusters were combined with...
Dry Creek Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley (Sonoma County, California) 2008
Dry Creek Vineyard’s founder David Stare is a sailing enthusiast who gave sailing names to many of his wines, such...
Tower 15, Paso Robles (California) 2010
The Jetty is Tower 15’s GSM, a Rhône-style blend consisting mainly of Grenache and Syrah with a trace of...
Castello Banfi, Chianti Classico Riserva (Tuscany, Italy) 2008
In May, my WRO colleague Michael Apstein wrote about Banfi Centine and Brunello di Montalcino. The $12 Centine won...
The Wonder of Oak
Chardonnay is seldom made without it and most red wines seen today on store shelves certainly include it. The French...
Tower 15, Paso Robles (California) Petite Sirah 2009
Petite Sirah is a California original so it only seems right to me that it should be aged in American oak, not French...
Tower 15, Paso Robles (California) 2009
The winery material pitched The Swell, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, as “a California twist on a...