Category Archives: red wine

Tasting Note: Il Frappato 2007, IGT Sicilia, Ariana Occhipinti

I’ve been a fan of Arianna Occhipinti’s wines for close to two years, now, since I tasted her nero d’avola, Il Siccagno, at Terroir SF, with a couple of friends I’d met at the first Wine Bloggers’ Conference (read the blog post, in French, right here). Since then, the wines have started to be imported [...]
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Further thoughts about that whole Lagrézette challenge thing…

Last week, in conjunction with my participation in Malbec Days, I took part as planned in a blind tasting of eight malbec wines organized by Château Lagrézette, Cahors’ best known wine producer, internationally. The whole event, as I wrote before on this blog and on PalatePress, was a “rematch”, following my review of Le Pigeonnier [...]
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Tastecamp Day 3: Leading the Way with Pinot

If you want to know if a wine region has potential, look to the best. There can always be stragglers and careless winemakers, but looking at what the top vignerons can do will really let you know the possibilities. Looking at the top wines we tasted over the weekend at Tastecamp, it’s clear that the Finger [...]
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Tasting Note: Le Cigare Volant 1997, Bonny Doon Vineyards

It is with great sadness that I share the passing of a great wine. Born in Santa Cruz, California, in 1997, Le Cigare Volant was made of grenache, syrah, cinsault and mourvèdre. Its early departure was due to premature oxydation, caused by the use of an improper synthetic cork. Commemorative donations can be made to [...]
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Tasting Note: Petalos 2007, Bierzo, Descendientes de J. Palacios

I was going to blog about something else (98 Bordeaux, to be exact), but this wine is just too good. I already raved about the 2006 vintage, and the 2007 is just as good, if not better. I’ve now tasted several vintages of Petalos, Alvaro Palacios’ “regular” Bierzo (Corullon being the higher-end label for Palacios in [...]
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