60 Second Wine Review — Flowers Pinot noir

Published on June 22, 2018

A few quick thoughts on the 2013 Flowers Pinot noir from the Sonoma Coast. The Geekery Flowers Winery began in 1989 when Joan and Walt Flowers purchased a few hundred acres in the northern Sonoma Coast AVA only about 2 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The prevailing wisdom was that cold ocean winds would be too cool to properly ripen even Burgundian varieties like Chardonnay and Pinot noir but the Flowers started planting Camp Meeting…

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Bordeaux Futures 2017 — Clinet, Clos L’Eglise, L’Evangile, Nenin

Published on June 21, 2018

As we continue our research on the 2017 Bordeaux Futures campaign, we head to Pomerol to look at the offers for Ch. Clinet, Clos L’Eglise, L’Evangile and Ch. Nenin. To learn more about our general philosophy and buying approach to Bordeaux futures, check out previous posts in our series. *Bordeaux Futures 2017 — Cos d’Estournel, Les Pagodes des Cos, Phélan Ségur, Calon-Segur *Bordeaux Futures 2017 — Palmer, Valandraud, Fombrauge, Haut-Batailley Also be sure to subscribe…

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60 Second Wine Review — Champagne Hediard Euro Cup Edition

Published on June 20, 2018

With the 2018 World Cup in full swing, I decided to revisit Champagne Hediard’s NV Brut produced for the 2016 Euro Cup tournament that was won by Portugal. (Go Seleções de Portugal!) The Geekery Based in Paris, Hediard is a luxury grocery founded in 1854 by Ferdinand Hédiard. With the 2016 Euro Cup tournament being hosted by France, Hediard created a special limited release bottling to be used as the official Champagne of the tournament.…

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Bordeaux Futures 2017 — Cos d’Estournel, Les Pagodes des Cos, Phélan Ségur, Calon-Segur

Published on June 18, 2018

We head to St. Estephe for the next installment in our series on the 2017 Bordeaux Futures campaign to look at offers for the 2nd Growth estate of Cos d’Estournel and its second wine, Les Pagodes des Cos, the cru bourgeois Ch. Phélan Ségur and the 3rd Growth Calon-Segur. Be sure to check out previous posts in our series for more details about the 2017 vintage. *Bordeaux Futures 2017 — Palmer, Valandraud, Fombrauge, Haut-Batailley *Bordeaux…

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min read 60 Second Reviews, Whiskey, Whiskey reviews

60 Second Whiskey Review — Yamazaki 18

Published on June 15, 2018
by  in 60 Second Reviews, Whiskey, Whiskey reviews
A few quick thoughts on the Yamazaki 18 Japanese Whisky. The Geekery If you want to understand Japanese whisky, I can’t recommend enough Dave Broom’s The World Atlas of Whisky. While it’s tempting to make comparisons to Scotch, Japanese whiskies are so fundamentally different that it’s like comparing oil paintings to digital art. One huge difference is how frequently Japanese producers are willing to completely refit and renovate their distilleries with new stills and modern…
min read Bordeaux, Shopping for Wine

Bordeaux Futures 2017 — Clos de l’Oratoire, Monbousquet, Quinault l’Enclos, Fonplegade

Published on June 14, 2018
by  in Bordeaux, Shopping for Wine
For our next installment on the 2017 Bordeaux Futures campaign, we go to St. Emilion to look for values from the sister properties of the Premier Grand Cru Classe estates Ch. Canon-la-Gaffeliere and Ch. Cheval Blanc as well as the Grand Cru Classe estates of Ch. Monbousquet and Ch. Fonplegade. To see some of the our previous posts on the 2017 campaign check out: Bordeaux Futures 2017 — Palmer, Valandraud, Fombrauge, Haut-Batailley Bordeaux Futures 2017…
min read Event reviews, Wine critics, Wine Tasting

Déjà Vu at the Wine Spectator Grand Tour

Published on June 2, 2018
by  in Event reviews, Wine critics, Wine Tasting
Last month, I attended the Wine Spectator Grand Tour tasting at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. While I had a blast at the 2017 tasting (which I documented in my 3 part series that you can read here) I won’t be doing a series of articles on this year’s Grand Tour (apart from maybe a Top 10 post) because, frankly, I would be burning out the “cut and paste” keys on my laptop. Déjà…