Cowan Cellars Announces First Release

With much anticipation, Cowan Cellars has announced its first release. Way to go, Jim and Diane!!  We wish you both much success in this and upcoming releases. The wines are: 2010 Isa (skin-fermented white) 2010 Pinot Noir, Bennett Valley 2010 Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. You can read about these wines on here. You can read [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/LPvVhL7ZNmU/cowan-cellars

good wines dessert wines vintage wine sparkling wines wine prices

Time to Sniff, Swirl, Spit

Two weeks from today, nearly 100 international wine judges will converge on Fairplex to sniff, swirl and spit their way through more than 3,000 wines – all in attempt to crown the best of the best.  The Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition begins May 27. Right now, wine staff are busy preparing the thousands [...]

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=39

wine glasses wine tasting white wine wine white wine cellar

Value Alert: 2009 Ninety Cellars Pinot Noir Lot 47 Reserve

The day after I tasted this wine I ordered a case. To give you an idea of how rare that is, I haven't ordered a straight case of any wine since 2005.

I've tasted over 100 different Pinot Noirs this year and the 2009 vintage from California has been a winner - more on that in this tasting report. I was leafing through Spectator's Wine of the Year issue last night and their crowning of a Cali Pinot Noir felt like a statement that California Pinot Noir deserves attention in serious wine enthusiasts' rotation.

90+ Cellars is a Boston-based company whose business model is to take finished, bottled wines from producers with a pedigree of 90 point ratings and deliver them to consumers at a fraction of the cost of the original label.

Their selections have come from all over the world. Their "Reserve" designation tends to be assigned to wines with a higher price point and esteem than their regular label - but their wines rarely exceed the $20 retail mark. This wine is available at retail for around $15 and I think it would fool a lot of people in a blind tasting of $40-$60 wines. Ample production should make this relatively easy to attain.

My Notes:

2009 Ninety+ Cellars Pinot Noir Lot 47 Reserve
14.5% alcohol
$17.99 (compare to $27.99)
2,400 Cases Produced

I think our friends at 90+ have caught lightning in a bottle with this one. Confusingly similar to Sanford on the low-end and Sea Smoke on the high-end. Utterly delicious.

Perfect floral/fruit-driven SoCal Pinot aromatics are the first things I noticed followed up by a satisfying experience on the palate. This one will sell out in a flash. I'm curious who the producer is. Fantastic stuff. Wow.

92/100 WWP: Outstanding

For more information or to purchase this wine directly from 90+ Cellars visit their website. I'll look forward to comparing notes.

Sample for review.

Question of the Day: Have you tried this wine? If so - what did you think?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/WhYCM7s9hQw/value-alert-2009-ninety-cellars-pinot.html

wine types wine types of wine merchant french wine sparkling wine

2011 Wine Spectator New York Wine Experience October 20-22

Wine Spectator's New York Wine Experience is coming to the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City Thursday October 20th through Saturday October 22nd.

The event includes grand tastings similar to those I wrote about back in May as part of the Boston Grand Tour event. The New York Wine Experience also includes moderated sit down seminars and a grand award banquet. Total cost for the full experience: $1,875.

But don't let sticker shock scare you away - there are more affordable options. The award banquet costs $400 a la carte. The value play, I think, is the $250 grand tastings which run Thursday and Friday from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm.

$250 for a wine tasting might sound like a lot. And it is. But if you're looking to try some of the best wines produced in the world today in an efficient and indulgent manner, tastings like this are a great way to go.

Here's a list of producers pouring that caught my eye:

  • Beaucastel
  • Carter
  • Cassanova di Neri
  • Cheval Blanc
  • Clerc Milon
  • Cos d'Estournel
  • Dominus
  • Donum
  • DuMOL
  • Felsina
  • Gaja
  • Harlan
  • Haut-Brion
  • Kistler
  • Kosta Browne
  • Lafite Rothschild
  • Lynch-Bages
  • Chateau Margaux
  • Peter Michael
  • Mouton Rothschild
  • Opus One
  • Ornellaia
  • Papapietro Perry
  • Joseph Phelps
  • Pichon-Longueville-Baron
  • Pontet-Canet
  • Revana
  • Ridge
  • Domaine Saint Prefert
  • Sassicaia
  • Saxum
  • Schrader
  • Tenuta Sette Ponti
  • Shafer
  • Staglin
  • Vieux Telegraphe
  • Chateau d'Yquem
Perhaps even more amazing is the wineries pouring I didn't include. Folks like Beaux Freres, Caymus, Siduri, and Loring. If it's like the Boston tasting each producer is only pouring a single wine - and it's their best. Better yet in many cases it's the winemakers themselves pouring the wines.

Have a look at my write-up from the Boston Grand Tour event to get a feel for what's in store.

For more information visit the 2011 New York Wine Experience website.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/Rp9tXBf2kvw/2011-new-york-wine-experience-october.html

wine white wine cellar cabernet riesling zinfandel

Wine Shield: A Simple Idea That Works

Preserving an open bottle of wine is one of those things wine lovers don’t talk a lot about. For many of us a bottle is not open long enough for the exposure to air to spoil the wine. But there are those times when you open a special bottle or, in my case, 4 or [...]

Wine Shield: A Simple Idea That Works originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/1yWpehbEQqY/

wines red wine clubs buy wine good wine wine warehouse