A succulent, fairly modern-styled Rioja, Gaudium offers powerful but succulent flavors, with plum and berry flavors enhanced by...
Marqués de Cáceres, Rioja (Spain) 2009
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Paul Lukacs
Trione, Russian River Valley (Sonoma County, California) Syrah 2010
An exceptional California Syrah, certainly the best I have tasted this year, this wine tastes ripe but balanced, and offers...
Vistalba, Mendoza (Argentina) 2014
Very firm, with tight tannins, this is a wine to drink with hearty fare -- especially grilled or roasted meats. It may...
Maison Louis Jadot, Moulin-à-Vent (Beaujolais, Burgundy, France) 2012
Showing significantly more depth than more modest Beaujolais or even many “cru” wines, this is a serious red, with...
Saint Roch, Côtes du Roussillon (France) 2013
A delicious blend of 40% Grenache, 20% Carignan, 20% Syrah, and 10% Mourvedre, this southern French beauty offers excellent...
California Shame
California can produce some of the finest wines in the world, but, sadly, fewer and fewer wines being made today achieve that...
Ruffino, Toscana Rosso (Italy) 2012
A blend of Sangiovese (50%), Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (25% each), this is an intensely flavored, medium-bodied wine, with...
Globalization and ‘Terroir’
A focus on “terroir”--the idea, not the dirt--has been a perhaps inevitable response to wine’s ongoing...
The Question of Quality: Idealists Versus Realists
Fifty years is a long time, but in the history of wine--a history that spans some 8,000 years--it’s a mere blip on the...
Famille Perrin, Rasteau (Rhône Valley, France) 2012
Showing a classic southern Rhône profile, with a bouquet redolent of dried herbs and black pepper as well as ripe plummy...
Robert Oatley, McLaren Vale (Australia) 2014
Full of ripe fruit (from Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre, as you’d guess) with a dash of spice in the bouquet, this is a...
Borgo Scopeto, Chianti Classico (Tuscany, Italy) 2013
An almost brooding Chianti Classico, with dark cherry-scented fruit flavors, firm tannins, and a dry, dusty finish, this wine...