Grenache

2009 Cayuse God Only Knows – Bottle Notes

The 2009 Cayuse God Only Know was the winning bottle in the September Installment of Pick My Next Bottle. The wine was opened and served shortly thereafter. Cayuse was founded in 1997 by Christophe Baron, a native of France who grew up in family of winemakers in Champagne. Baron studied viticulture in Burgundy and Champagne, and had ambitions to make…

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Random Musings

The Week in Zinfandel (9/25/17)

Welcome to the latest installment of The Week in Zinfandel. If I missed your post or story please send me a link and I will be sure to include it next week. Cheers! Vinepair writes White Zinfandel Never Really Left Us – And Maybe That’s O.K. Randy Caparoso writes Tamara Maren’s Vineyard Opens Lodi to a Diverse Range of Home Winemakers.…

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Bottle Notes, Zinfandel

2013 Ridge Lytton Springs – Bottle Notes

Ridge Vineyards was founded in 1959 when three Stanford Research Institute engineers bought an abandoned winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The vineyards had been planted in the late 19th century by a San Francisco physician who produced his first vintage in the original winery, called Monte Bello, in 1892. The first Ridge vintage was in 1962. Paul Draper recently…

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Cellar Management

Pick My Next Bottle – Grenache Showdown

The September Installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on great bottles of Grenache. The idea for this installment was crowd sourced from some of my favorite followers on Twitter. It is timely as well, considering International Grenache Day was just a week ago. As I mentioned in the first installment, the purpose of this series is to provide insight…

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Bordeaux, Bottle Notes

1988 Chateau Cos d’Estourel – Bottle Notes

Louis Gaspard d’Estournel founded Chateau Cos d’Estournel in 1811. Cos d’Estournel was one of the first wineries in Bordeaux to bottle, label and sell their own wine. The Chateau has exchanged hands many times over the years but today is owned and managed by Michel Reybier, who earned his fortune in the food industry and bought Cos in 2000. This bottle was…

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Random Musings

The Week in Zinfandel (9/18/17)

Welcome to the latest installment of The Week in Zinfandel. If I missed your post or story please send me a link and I will be sure to include it next week. Cheers! Randy Caparoso writes Last Rites for Lodi’s Old Vine Growths. Wine Folly writes The Secret to Finding Great (Value) Wine. Alder Yarrow writes California 2017 – Sizzle…

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Bottle Notes, Zinfandel

2011 Ravenswood Zinfandel Old Hill Ranch Vineyard – Bottle Notes

Ravenswood was founded in 1976 by Joel Peterson. The winery is a pioneer in producing single vineyard Zinfandels from some of Napa and Sonoma’s most treasured vineyards, including Dickerson, Old Hill, Cooke and Belloni. I used to visit Ravenswood in the summer, when they released their single vineyard wines. Back in the day they also served delicious barbeque on the deck out…

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Bottle Notes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

2005 Domaine de Cristia “Renaissance” Châteauneuf-du-Pape – Bottle Notes

Domaine de Cristia, founded by Etienne Grangeon in 1942, was originally comprised of 2 hectares of Grenache. It was developed further by the driving force of his son Alain, who joined the domaine in 1963. Passionate about viticulture, he notably contributed to the expansion of the domaine and planted additional grape varieties including Syrah and Mourvèdre and created the identity…

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Random Musings

The Week in Zinfandel (9/11/17)

Welcome to the latest installment of The Week in Zinfandel. If I missed your post or story please send me a link and I will be sure to include it next week. Cheers! Wines & Vines writes Grape Harvest Racing Along in Sonoma County. The Drinks Business writes Californian Heatwave: Too Soon Too Tell if Yields Affected. W. Blake Gray…

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