Category Archives: BY VARIETAL

Planet Bordeaux: Bord In The U.S.A

Posted on November 23, 2011 by intoxreport

Time was, the vignerons of Bordeaux thought that the wine world revolved around them.  Is this where Planet Bordeaux is coming from? Granted, they are in the market to push the Département Gironde, and their splashy and convivial website (planet-bordeaux.com) … Continue reading →

Posted in Bordeaux, Cab/Merlot, FRANCE | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Warren Winiarski’s Stag’s Leap of Faith

Posted on November 19, 2011 by intoxreport

Within vino’s voluminous vale, the story of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is the story of Napa.  At least, it’s a microcosm of Napa’s rise from a fiefdom of meh to a kingdom of quality—and that’s a crown that Warren Winiarski … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, CALIFORNIA, Chardonnay, Stag's Leap | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Beaujolais Nouveau Est Blasé! But Still Okay…

Posted on November 16, 2011 by intoxreport

Forget that it’s essentially grape-flavored alcohol juice.  Ignore the ten crus in the appellation that are by far superior.  Disregard the fact that it occupies lowest rung on the Burgundy ladder.  It’s time to pull out the stops along with … Continue reading →

Posted in Beaujolais, FRANCE, Gamay, Gamay | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Petit Verdot Goes Gangbusters in Ripley, Ohio—Believe It Or Not

Posted on November 15, 2011 by intoxreport

The jury is hereby ordered to disregard the headline and answer the following question: If you were going to purchase a ton of wine grapes from California, which varietal do you suppose would set you back the most?  Nope, not … Continue reading →

Posted in Ohio, Ohio River Valley, Petit Verdot | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Quivira Mourvèdre: Waste Not, Want More

Posted on November 12, 2011 by intoxreport

In these days of symbol scrimping, font frugality, typeface saving and character conserving, when we are all responsibly turning our keyboards down to 62° (I won’t waste an ‘F’ for ‘Fahrenheit’ since it should be obvious—what do I look, Canadian?), … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Dry Creek, Mourvedre | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Michigan Viognier: Domaine Berrien Sounds The Clarion

Posted on November 11, 2011 by intoxreport

If Paris In The Spring was a coin, the flip side would be Michigan in November.  Post-Halloween—in boondocky counties like Berrien especially—everything deteriorates into the sort of dreary dystopia imagined by Huxley and Wells.   Cornstalks turn colors not seen outside … Continue reading →

Posted in Lake Michigan Shore, Michigan, MIDWEST, Viognier | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Napa Cellars Wines: Generically Delicious!

Posted on November 6, 2011 by intoxreport

I know, bubeleh; I know.  After earning your MBA from the Carnegie Mellon School of Business and your Ph.D from MIT, after a brief teaching stint at Stanford Graduate School (for which you wrote three textbooks on macroeconomics) and your subsequent … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, CALIFORNIA, Chardonnay, Merlot, Napa, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Ghost Pines Chardonnay: Did Thirty-Five French Generations Get It Wrong?

Posted on October 30, 2011 by intoxreport

I begin with a short and doubtlessly dull philippic on vineyard designated wines.  And all you smarty-pants enophiles who already know this stuff are encouraged to go back to The Marriage Plot or Unbroken or whatever the hell you’re reading … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Chardonnay | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dry Creek Zinfandel: Make a Dashe for the valley

Posted on September 14, 2011 by intoxreport

Dashe Cellars says that they knew in advance that their stellar, 2007 vintage, Dry Creek zinfandels would ‘make themselves’.  Good news for Dashe;  not so much for the migrants who will now have to be trucked into Oregon to find … Continue reading →

Posted in Dry Creek, Zinfandel | 1 Comment

Rutherford Dust Never Sleeps

Posted on September 11, 2011 by intoxreport

‘Dust you are, and to dust shall you return.’  – Genesis 3:19 Open letter to God:  In the meantime, can we borrow some to make Rutherford cabernet? And although Robert Mondavi and Louis Martini might disagree (in spirit, of course, since … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, CALIFORNIA, Napa | Tagged , , | 1 Comment