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Virginia Is For [Wine] Lovers
Virginia is for lovers. Everybody knows that. Or at least I assume that many people know that, as you can see these words on the billboards and in magazines. The original slogan was developed in 1969, stating that “Virginia is for beach lovers” and “Virginia is for history lovers”, before becoming just “Virginia is for lovers”.
That slogan also perfectly applies to our favorite subject here on these pages – wine. We can proclaim with conviction that Virginia is for wine lovers.
You might know that the love of wine in Virginia is tightly woven with American history. Thomas Jefferson was one of the original vintners in Virginia, tirelessly working at his Monticello estate to establish Vitis Vinifera plantings in his vineyard in the early 1800s. While he was not successful, his passion definitely survived to the present day, giving way to the top-notch, world-class wines produced in Virginia today.
My first encounter with Virginian wines was about 16 years ago, driven by the quest for rare grapes (also covered in one of the first 10 posts on this blog). I had an opportunity to visit Chrysalis Vineyards in Virginia to taste the wine made from the Norton grape – another historical connection to the Virginia wine scene, developed by Dr. Norton in 1825. During my visit, I found way more than just a delicious wine made from Norton, but also a full lineup of wines made from the classic French grapes. Ever since, I never had a doubt that Virginia makes world-class wine (except I can’t find them in Connecticut because … no… I’m not falling into the USA wine laws rant today…).
Recently, I was offered an opportunity to review and write about Virginian wines, which I gladly accepted. You already know that I hold Virginian wines in high regard, and they are largely not available in Connecticut, so this was a perfect opportunity to taste some new wines. I was a bit surprised when I got a full case, 12 bottles, of the wines from Virginia. The box contained no explanations, just a set of wines – one sparkling, 3 whites, and 8 reds.
I have randomly chosen a bottle of red to open, and boom – I’m blown away. Next bottle, red again – another OMG moment. At this point, I’m really curious, and I went online to research what wines I have received, and after checking a few wine names, I suddenly realized that I got not some random 12 wines from Virginia – no, I got the 2026 Governor’s Cup Case, 12 best of the best wines from Virginia.
Virginia Governor’s Cup originated in 1982 from a small tasting of Virginia wines during the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival, where about 50 people tasted the locally made wines. Starting in 1989, the event became an official competition, with the Governor of Virginia presenting the awards. In 2026, 670 wines, ciders, and meads entered the competition. 113 wineries received 224 Gold Medals, and the 12 highest-ranking red, white, and sparkling wines made up the Governor’s Cup Case.
Now I knew why each wine tasted better than the previous one… Well, whatever comes up, goes down, but that’s what makes the wine world so exciting. Keep reading, you will see what I’m talking about.
For what it’s worth, here are my notes in the order I tasted the wines:
2023 Fifty-Third Winery Two Springs Red Blend Monticello AVA (13% ABV, 73% Cabernet Franc, 22% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot)
Bright Ruby color
Fresh berries, Malbec-like, blackberries, raspberries, eucalyptus
Beautiful fresh berries, almost crunchy but juicy, eucalyptus, perfectly balancing acidity, firm structure.
8+, a wow wine.
2023 Glen Manor Vin Rouge Virginia (13.4% ABV, 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 4% Petite Verdot)
Beautiful Garnet
Eucalyptus, mint, freshly crushed red berries
Beautiful, supple, generally with layers of energy. A hint of cassis, beautiful fluffy texture, well integrated tannins and perfect balance. A delight.
8+, superb pop’n’pour
2024 Granite Heights Humility Virginia (12.7% ABV, 100% Lagrein)
Brilliant garnet
Fresh black and red fruit, eucalyptus
Stunning. Lip-smacking, gobs of fruit, wild, succulent berries, perfectly woven around a generous but firm core. Layers of pleasure, perfect balance. Wow.
8+/9-, superb.
2023 Pollack Vineyards Merlot Reserve Monticello (14.5% ABV, 100% Merlot, 80% Clone 343, 20% Clone 181, 18 months in French oak barrels)
Purple and inky
Cherries, spices, a whiff of bell pepper, eucalyptus
A celebration in the mouth – lots of succulent fruit, black cherries, blackberries, black currant, just gobs of it, smothered over eucalyptus leaves, dusted with black pepper. Voluptuous, generous, perfectly balanced. A pleasure.
8+/9-
2019 Trump Blanc de Blancs Brut Sparkling Wine Monticello (12.5% ABV, 48 months on lees)
Light straw, fine mousse
The nose is screaming “classic, classic, classic” – toasted bread, brioche, yeast
A perfectly classic palate, with toasted bread, apples, bright acidity, and perfect balance
8+, a pure pleasure, happy to drink it every day
2023 7 Lady Vineyards Meritage Virginia (13.9% ABV, 44% Merlot, 37% Petit Verdot, 19% Cabernet Franc)
Dark garnet
Ripe dark fruit, intense
Overly ripe fruit on the palate, almost stewed, some sweet mocha, a big wine
7, a first disappointment. The wine was too heavy, needed more acidity and more balance. Even the second day was still too heavy. A double disappointment as the bottle (a BAB) looked very promising…
2024 The Winery at La Grange Petit Manseng Virginia (13.9% ABV)
Golden color
Honey, honeysuckle, white plums, herbs
Candied white fruit, lemon and honey, good acidity.
Strange. I can drink it, but to say that I love it would be a lie.
7+, I must be missing something. Perhaps it should be good with food, some spicy Asian dish or maybe sharp cheese.
2023 Michael Shaps Cabernet Franc Virginia (13.7% ABV)
Dark garnet.
Upon opening, the wine was “too much” – jammy fruit all over the place. After about 30 minutes in the glass, the wine settled down to a leaner, drinkable version.
2nd day notes:
Cassis, cherries, eucalyptus, a touch of mint. Open and welcoming.
Cassis, cherries, a hint of tobacco and pepper, firm structure, elegant, well balanced, a pleasure to drink.
8/8+, nice
2024 Woodbrook Farm Vineyard Petit Manseng Monticello (15.4% ABV)
Light golden
First two days the wine was just too sweet
Day 3:
Honey and caramel on the nose, candied fruit, sweet plums
Honey, ripe white plums, floral undertones, lemon curd, velvety, good acidity on the finish
7+, I still don’t love this wine, but it is drinkable on day 3. Probably great with blue cheese
2023 Valley Road Vineyard Cabernet Franc Reserve Monticello (13.7% ABV) – Governor’s Cup Winner!
Bright Garnet
Mint, currant, intense, open, inviting, promising a great depth
Delicious gobs of fruit (currant, dark cherries), tobacco, velvety smooth, luscious and seductive. Perfect balance.
8+, wow, a pure delight
2024 Barboursville Vineyards Vermentino Reserve Virginia (13.5% ABV)
Light golden
Delicious fresh white stone fruit, hint of honeysuckle, fresh, inviting
Fresh, vibrant fruit on the palate, white plums, Meyers lemon, good structure, excellent balance.
8, delicious, needs about 10 minutes to open in the glass.
2024 CrossKeys Vineyards Cabernet Franc Shenandoah Valley (14% ABV)
Cassis leaf, eucalyptus, a hint of green pepper
Bell peppers, a touch of black pepper, currant. It was leaner, firmer, and sharper on Day 1. On Day 3, it opened up into a bigger wine, more of the California fruit-forward style
8-/8, a nice rendition
There you are, my friends. As you can see, I was unable to fall in love with the Virginian rendition of Petit Manseng, it was just too sweet. By chance, a few days ago, I had a blend of Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng from Field Recordings in California, and it was stylistically similar, but a lot more elegant for my palate. But all in all, I can’t complain with 9 superb wines out of 12 – the beauty of the wine world, everyone can find what they like, as long as they are willing to look.
Have you had any wines from Virginia? What do you think of them?
When in Texas…
Local wine is one of the great pleasures of travel. Local wines offer an opportunity to try something new, something you can not buy at your favorite wine store back at home, you can’t buy online (maybe you can, but there will always be a hassle). Besides, there are countless stories of wine tasting delicious “at the source” and not the same when you bring them home.
While this is true everywhere, it is even a bigger issue in the United States. US wine laws are moronic (sorry, I don’t have a better word), whether you want to buy them in your favorite local wine store or online. I live in Connecticut, and while I can buy wines from pretty much anywhere in the world, in terms of “local wines” I can only buy a few of the Connecticut and New York State wines. Okay, I think on occasion I have seen wines from Virginia, but those would be extremely rare. And most of the wineries in other states (outside of California, Oregon, and Washington) wouldn’t even ship wine to Connecticut. Well, I was not planning to write a rant, so let’s get back to our topic.
I had to spend a week in Texas for work, which means what? An opportunity to drink some Texan wines!
Whenever I’m visiting Texas, I’m always excited to try some new wines, even if they come from the familiar producers. This trip was no exception – my first stop was at the local H.E.B. store, a Texas parlor of fine food, to pick up some water and, of course, wine. The store had a nice selection to choose from:
So I ended up with these 3 bottles, which I tasted over the course of a few days – here are my notes:
2021 Becker Vineyards Prairie Rotie Texas (15.1% ABV, 32% Mourvèdre, 24% Grenache, 18% Petite Sirah, 13% Counoise, 13% Cinsault)
Garnet
Tobacco, cherries, mineral notes
Red and black fruit, mineral notes, tobacco, pencil shavings, black currant, cherries, nice layers of flavor, good balance, good acidity, long finish.
8+, excellent
Day 4, still excellent. Elegant, pleasant. Same rating.
NV Duchman Family Winery Grape Growers BBQ White (13.5% ABV, proprietary Mediterranean blend)
Straw yellow
A hint of wildflowers and honeysuckle
Sweet white fruit on the palate, ripe white plums, honey. Acidity is present, leveling off the finish into rather a pleasant experience.
7+, this wine is exactly as it is called – I see it perfectly pairing with tangy ribs, sweet sausage and similar BBQ delicacies.
2021 McPherson Cellars EVS windblown Texas High Plains (13.7% ABV, 25% Mourvèdre, 20% Syrah, 20% Carignan, 18% Petite Sirah, 17% Grenache)
Dark garnet, practically black
Restrained, blackberries, savory and herbal, with some barnyard coming in late
Uplifting, bright, lots of juicy red and black fruit. Needs to breathe for a few minutes. It became better an hour later, but it was even better the next day.
Much more balanced, black pepper, restrained dark fruit, cleansing acidity with long and energetic finish.
8/8+
There you are, my friends. When traveling, drink local, you will never regret it. Cheers!
Tales of Kosher Alcohol
Wine is wine, right? So is whiskey, tequila, vodka, rum, and all the other liquors, do you agree?
Leaving cost aside, when choosing alcohol, your typical selection categories are “sustainable”, “organic”, “vegan”, “artisanal”, “biodynamic”, plus all the “certified” categories. And then there is a world of kosher, which trumpets all of those.
I’m sure many of you have heard of kosher food and many rules associated with it, in purchasing the ingredients, cooking, and consuming (don’t mix meat and dairy, for example). But wine is wine, right?
Ahh, no. There is kosher wine, and there is all other wine. And even the word “kosher” by itself is not enough when it comes to wine – the most important word on the bottle of kosher wine is not an appellation, not the name of the producer, not the name of the grape. The most important word is Mevushal.
Okay, if you are just buying the wine for yourself, and you observe kashrut laws, for the wine to be marked as kosher would be a perfectly safe choice. However, if you plan to drink that kosher wine anywhere outside of your house, you want to bring it to a kosher restaurant or to an event, this is where just the word “kosher” is not enough – the word you are looking for is “Mevushal”. The word must be present on the label, or you better leave your bottle at home.
Similar to any food which can be kosher or not, the kosher laws in winemaking are applied at all different stages of wine production, basically from planting and caring for the vineyard until the wine finally goes into the bottle. I have no intentions of diving too deep into the rules – just ask your trusted AI friend, and you will get as much (or much more) information as you want. But as we already said many times, just the word “kosher” on the bottle is not enough.
The kashrut laws extend further than just the liquid in the bottle. It also covers the service, the process of opening the bottle and pouring it into the glasses. And here is the culprit. The moment a non-Jewish person opens the bottle of kosher wine, the wine becomes non-kosher. same goes for the non-Jewish person pouring the wine into the glasses. And as you can imagine, this is an absolutely standard service situation, at any restaurant and any event. So now, finally, Mevushal is to the rescue! If the wine is marked “Mevushal”, then anyone can open the bottle and serve the wine, and it will continue being kosher!
While important for the kashrut, Mevushal used to be almost a swear word among wine lovers. 20-30 years ago, no wine aficionado would touch the wine marked as Mevushal. The reason is simple. To ensure that kosher wine remains kosher no matter who pours it, the wine had to undergo the Mevushal process.
Actually, if you like wine and want to know what “mevushal” means, the translation itself should really scare you – the word means “to cook” or “to boil“. If you ever have forgotten a bottle of wine in the car on a hot summer day, you perfectly know why “cooked wine” is such a swear word in the wine lover’s lexicon. So to become “mevushal”, the entirety of the wine had to be heated up to 180°F (82°C) – then the wine becomes mevushal and can be handled by anyone. And in the old days, the wine would also become undrinkable for the absolute majority of wine lovers. But thanks to modern science and technology, the mevushal process now is very similar to flash pasteurization – wine is heated very quickly, for less than a minute, and then immediately cooled off, thus avoiding inflicting any essential damage on the taste of the wine.
Whew, I hope you got it now. The kosher, mevushal, and the whole nine yards associated with it.
But, the fun with kosher alcohol is only starting now. As you now learned how sacred the grapes are in the Jewish religion, the game with all other types of alcohol becomes even more complicated, as you never know where the pitfalls are located.
Basically, you can look at it like this: if the liquor has anything to do with grapes in any shape and form (grapes/grape juice, wine barrels, whatever else you can think of), unless the bottle is marked as “kosher”, it can’t be served at a kosher restaurant or an event. For example, the vodka made from potatoes or wheat is perfectly appropriate. If the vodka is made from grapes – not at all, unless the bottle says it is kosher. If vodka was flavored by the wine/grape byproduct – again “NO”, unless it is marked “kosher”.
It all might sound somewhat innocent until you realize that lots and lots of higher-end scotches are “non-kosher” – for example, the majority of the Macallan scotches are not kosher. All of the double-wood, sherry cask, port cask, burgundy wine cask finishes and so on render the whisky “non-kosher” and can’t be served. That also affects quite a few of the Anejo tequilas… You really need to spend time to figure out a full pedigree on a bottle of scotch you are planning to serve at your event, or risk it being rejected by the caterer.
Anyway, you might imagine that I didn’t wake up in the morning with the thought “why don’t I write an extensive post about kosher alcohol laws”. Had to plan for a big event later on, so all the learnings were necessary and fresh, hence the desire to share.
We got together to taste some wines and to decide on our choices. The Georgian kosher wine I was able to procure would be a fine choice – tasty, not overpowering, well balanced – but “not mevushal” on the back label rendered it a “no go” option.
Tequila seems to be a popular choice of a sipping alcohol nowadays, and if it is just a blanco, no wood aging is involved, it is fine. Basically, all of tequila blanco is a safe choice even without saying “kosher” on the bottle, it is made out of the agave plant. The problem with good tequila is availability – for example, even the Ocho you can see in the picture is not really available, so we are going with Don Abraham Blanco, which is also hard to procure.
I already explained the problem with scotch, so the only options are the scotch which was not aged or finished in any of the wine casks. Balvenie 14 is simply too expensive, so we tasted both Johnnie Walker 18 and Tomintoul 16, and settled on the Johnnie Walker 18 as it was a bit more structured than Tomintoul.
There you are, my friends. Here is my story of selecting proper kosher wines for an event – and my hope that now you are a tiny bit more educated about the intricacies of kosher alcohol than before.
Until next time – cheers!
Daily Glass: The Mood, The Vintage, Or Something Else?
Carlisle is one of my favorite California wine producers (who is, unfortunately, about to close the operation, but this is not the subject of this post). Carlisle is very well known for their Zinfandel wines, but their Rhone-style wines (Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and others) are also excellent. I love their wines and have been on the mailing list for more than 10 years. I’m rarely disappointed by Carlisle wines, and yet I had a few “interesting” experiences.
Two years ago, in January of 2024, I opened a bottle of 2016 Carlisle Two Acres wine, and it turned out to be one of such “interesting” experiences. I didn’t like the wine, not when it was just opened, nor over the next few days it remained open. The wine was lacking balance, and since that time, I had a bit of trepidation whlie considering opening Two Acres again.
Today, I decided to give it another chance. This time, it was a 2017 Carlisle Two Acres Russian River Valley (14.9% ABV). Different vintage, a year difference in ageing (8 years versus 9 years). And the wine couldn’t be more different. Almost black color, dusty cherries on the nose, beautiful legs (couldn’t help but notice). Dusty cherries and herbs on the palate, perfect firm structure, full body, power and elegance, and perfect balance. This was one delicious wine. (Drinkability: 8+/9-)
There is a reason for the wine’s name Two Acres. The grapes for this wine come from the 2-acre vineyard parcel, which was originally planted in 1910. Carlisle took over the parcel in 1996, when the vineyard was practically dying, and restored the vineyard to full health in 2003. The original vineyard was planted with the Mourvèdre grapes, with the addition of Syrah, Petite Sirah, Carignan, Peloursin, and Alicante Bouschet. According to the Carlisle website, there are also a few Zinfandel vines in addition to nine whites of a variety called Helena (a white cross of Zinfandel and Mondeuse noir). Also, Two Acres wine is produced as Field Blend, which means that all the different grape varieties are harvested and processed together, without separating by varieties.
And now is the question – how come? How come I really didn’t like 2016 and loved 2017? Was there something with my mood? The difference between the vintages? On odd bottle? Of course, we will never know, but the analysis, even if futile, is still a part of the geeky wine fun.
I checked the Wine Spectator vintage chart for Rhone varieties in California, and according to the chart, 2016 was supposed to be far superior:
2016 – “A textbook vintage with nearly ideal growing conditions throughout the year”
2017 – “Dramatic weather conditions, from floods to heat waves to wildfires, led to a variable, challenging vintage”
And yet I liked 2017 a lot more. Of course, my 2016 could’ve been just an odd bottle. Or maybe I had a root day. Or just simply a bad day.
We will never know, because you can’t enter the same river twice. But if anything, I think my trepidation towards Carlisle Two Acres is now cured. And I’m ready to taste another bottle.
Until the next time – cheers!
P.S. Just for fun, a Day 2 update:
The wine evolved, now adding a touch of nutmeg, balsamic, and iodine, smothered on top of delicious black cherries with perfect acidity to support the new expression and keep the wine lean and firm, with an unnoticeable ABV. As I said before, a treat.
A Weekend In Wines #4
Here we go again – another attempt at a series (I kind of question my mental health at the moment, as the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, each time expecting a different result – I’m so glad I’m not a doctor, whew).
Some time ago, I wrote a post called Weekend in Wines. Then there was A Weekend In Unique Wines. And also A Weekend in [Great] Wines. That makes it 3 attempts at the Weekend in Wines theme, hence the #4 in the title. Oh yes, and countless posts under the same name, which never left my head, never materialized in the form of letters and pictures on the screen. But those don’t count, don’t they? Okay, number 4 it is.
It is not every weekend that I experience the wines I feel an urge to talk about. But from time to time, the “weekend wines” turn out truly special, especially if we are meeting with friends or traveling somewhere just for a weekend. The name “Weekend in Wines” feels appropriate, so let’s see how far I will be able to get with this.
There is another interesting question: when does the wine weekend start? Well, it is not all that important, but sometimes I open an interesting bottle on Thursday, knowing that I will finish it on Friday, just to see how the wine will “age”. But then again, let’s not bother ourselves with small details.
The weekend in wines #4 actually started on Thursday, with 2022 Pazac Le Pigeonnier Costières de Nîmes AOP (14.5% ABV). Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of the Southern Rhone wines, I find them flat for my palate. So I had no expectations opening this bottle – and then was pleasantly surprised with a generous fruit, medium+ body and nicely contrasting acidity. Well drinkable and offering a good amount of pleasure (Drinkability: 8-). I pumped the air out and left the bottle on the counter until the next day – and on the next day, the wine started losing its “umph”, simply confirming that Southern Rhone wines are not built for ageing.
I needed something else to drink on Friday, then, and I pulled 2021 Field Recordings Nolan Alisos Canyon AVA (13.9% ABV, 100% Alicante Bouschet, Nolsn Ranch vineyard) from the wine fridge. I was first introduced to the Alicante Bouschet grape more than 20 years ago, in the guided tasting of Spanish wines at the Barcelona restaurant in Connecticut. Ever since, I had many pleasant encounters with wines made from this unique Teinturier grape. A quick explanation, if I may – Teinturier grapes have red skin and red flesh/juice, which is very unique – only about 20 grapes are Teinturier out of many thousands used in the winemaking (Georgian Saperavi is another good example of Teinturier grape). The absolute majority of the red-skinned grapes have clear juice. While coming originally from Spain, Alicante Bouschet is a popular grape in California, more as a blending grape, but also used in the single varietal wines by the likes of Carlisle and Turley. This wine was powerful and brooding, almost black in color, with cherries, roasted meat, and a bit of funk, well within the “pleasure boundaries for my palate. (Drinkability: 8)
On Saturday, we were visiting our friends Francesca and Stefano, and of course, I had the pleasure nightmare of selecting a couple of special bottles to bring over. After a prolonged, painful back and forth, I finally settled on two bottles of Turley. First, 2022 Turley Sauvignon Blanc Estate Napa Valley (13.2% ABV). Turley Sauvignon Blanc is one of my perennial favorites. I had multiple vintages of this wine, and I have to say that Turley Sauvignon Blanc is always in a league of its own. You can’t provide a simple frame of reference, such as “oh, it is so much like Sancerre”, or “Similar to New Zealand”, and so on. The wine has great energy, it is round, it is silky, it is polished, it offers white stone fruit with good mid-palate weight, and a perfect balance. Always a treat. (Drinkability: 8+).
The next wine was an amazing treat. I recently got this 1995 Turley Petite Syrah Aida Vineyard Napa Valley (13.5% ABV) directly from Turley via the last mailing list offering. I’m on the Turley’s list probably for the past 15 years, I love Petite Sirah (Turley uses the spelling of Petite Syrah for some reason), but I never saw Petite Sirah from Aida Vineyard on any of the offers. We had to decant the wine as we were not careful pulling out a 31-year-old cork. I know that Larry Turley, the founder of Turley Winery, often said that Zinfandel is the wine Cab lovers actually want to drink. I know that this is Petite Sirah and not Zinfandel, but this 1995 Petite Sirah was truly mesmerizing – and Cabernet-like. In a blind tasting, I would not doubt that I’m drinking California Cabernet Sauvignon even for a second. The wine had a beautiful, succulent berry profile, with cedar box, eucalyptus, and mint, a fresh, zippy, and joyous palate. The tannins were perfectly integrated but still present, acidity was in check, ensuring the absolute freshness, and overall impeccable balance. A gem. (Drinkability: 9-/9).
Ahh, and one more interesting tidbit – the delicious pairing of this Turley Petite Sirah with Pasta Bolognese we had as a first dish. I would never think of pairing Petite Sirah with a pasta dish, as generally it would overpower it. However, this 30-year-old Petite Sirah mellowed and evolved enough to create a delicious pairing, complementing and enhancing the flavor. Love good surprises!
I asked Stefano if he had any Valtellina Sfursat in his cellar, as I was all of a sudden craving this expression of Nebbiolo after an earlier conversation on Twitter. He didn’t have the Sfursat, but he came back with 2001 ArPePe Sassella Rocce Rosse Reserva Valtellina DOCG (13% ABV). I love ArPePe wines, but they are generally not easy to find in the US. Interestingly enough, this wine literally showed no signs of age. It looked like it was just made, with cherries, sandalwood, violets and a touch of sapidity. To be entirely honest, I literally wanted this wine to show some age, maybe with some dried fruit notes, and it didn’t. I guess it would take another 20 years for it to reach its peak. Oh well, it was still tasty. (Drinkability: 8/8+).
And the last one for today – 2009 Carole Bouquet Sangue d’Oro Passito di Pantelleria, Sicily (14.5%). Once again, I was obnoxious enough to ask for Vin Santo to have with dessert. Stefano didn’t have any Vin Santo on hand, so he came back with this wine. I never heard of the producer, but the appellation is well-known for producing dessert wines from the Muscat of Alexandria grape, locally known as Zibibbo, with Donnafugata Ben Ryé being the most exemplatory specimen. It appears that this wine is produced by the famous French actress, Carole Bouquet, and it is not easy to find in the US. As the name of the appellation says, the wine is produced using the “passito” method, where the grapes are dried for a number of months before they are pressed into the wine, greatly increasing the concentration of flavors. The wine was delicious, loaded with succulent, ripe apricots with perfect acidity. Seductive, round, voluptuous – a perfect finish to a great evening with friends (Dinkability: 8/8+).
There you are, my friends. A weekend in wines. A weekend in great wines. A weekend in unique wines.
To more great wine weekends – cheers!
2023 UGCB Vintage Preview – Classic
“Classic”.
“Normal”.
This is practically a tradition for me to start the year with the Bordeaux tasting – a UGCB new vintage preview. The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB) is a market organization representing Grand Cru wineries (Chateaux) in Bordeaux. UGCB currently has 131 members and focuses on the promotion of Bordeaux Grand Cru wines around the world, organizing more than 100 events in 15+ countries.
I had been coming to these events for quite a few years by now, and I always make an effort to ask one question of the winemakers – “How was the vintage”? Among responses, I had an interesting range of opinions, with some of the answers even contradicting each other. For example, one of the winemakers said that they lost 35% of the crop due to the mildew. However, nobody else seems to have the same problem, even within the same appellation.
But no matter what, there seems to be a consensus to call this vintage “classic”, or “normal”, as some people referred to it. There was a good amount of rain in the spring, with even growing conditions throughout the summer and harvest in the fall. So the 2023 Bordeaux shall be known as Classic. My general impressions of the tasting also confirm this designation – I would call the majority of the wines I tasted “a classic Bordeaux”.
The wines below represent the list of favorites, the wines that were drinkable right now, or may be after a short decanting. Where 2022 was mostly ready to drink right away, 2023 being “classic” will definitely benefit from the time in the cellar as it has acidity and structure to build upon. But hey, you will be the judge of it.
Now, to the wines I enjoyed in the tasting:
Pessac-Léognan (the only Grand Cru region in Bordeaux producing both white and red wines). Most of the whites I tried were delicious. The reds were mostly on the leaner side, but overall nice and “classic”.
2023 Château Carbonnieux Blanc Pessac-Léognan
2023 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion Rouge Pessac-Léognan (’22)
2023 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc Pessac-Léognan (’21, ’22) – probably the most favorite among the whites
2023 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge Pessac-Léognan (’21, ’22) – one of the top red favorites, ready to drink now
2023 Château de Fiuzal Blanc Pessac-Léognan (’21, ’22)
2023 Château de Fiuzal Rouge Pessac-Léognan (’22)
2023 Château Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc Pessac-Léognan
2023 Château Larrivet Haut-Brion Rouge Pessac-Léognan
2023 Château Latour-Martillac Blanc Pessac-Léognan (’22)
2023 Château Malartic-Lagravière Blanc Pessac-Léognan (’21)
2023 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc Pessac-Léognan – my second favorite white wine. Bright and beautiful.
2023 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Pessac-Léognan
Margaux
For the first time in many years, this was my favorite region in the tasting. The wines were mostly well-balanced without killing the palate with a tannin attack, as many others did.
2023 Château Brane-Cantenac Margaux (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Cantenac Brown Margaux
2023 Château Dauzac Margaux
2023 Château Giscours Margaux
2023 Château Kirwan Margaux
2023 Château Lascombes Margaux (’22)
2023 Château Rauzan-Ségla Margaux (’21)
2023 Château du Tertre Margaux
Pauillac
I guess I gravitate to Pauillac – almost every one had been on my favorite list for several years in a row. Second favorite group after Margaux.
2023 Château Batailley Pauillac (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Clerc Milon Pauillac (’21, ’22)
2023 Château d’Armailhac Pauillac (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Duhart-Milon Pauillac (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse Pauillac (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Haut-Batailley Pauillac (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Lynch-Moussas Pauillac (’22)
2023 Château Pichon BaronPauillac (’22)
Listrac-Médoc
2023 Château Fourcas Dupré Listrac-Médoc
2023 Château Fourcas Hosten Listrac-Médoc
Haut-Médoc
2023 Château Cantemerle Haut-Médoc
2023 Château Coufran Haut-Médoc – love the winemaker’s philosophy – Bordeaux needs to be released aged. 2009 and 2011 vintages are the current vintages sold in the US, 2007 is in the UK.
Pomerol
2023 Château Le Gay Pomerol (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Gazin Pomerol
2023 Château Rouget Pomerol – the only wine in Bordeaux made by a Burgundy guy – according to the winemaker, the Burgundy guy himself.
Saint-Émilion
2023 Chateau Valandraud Saint-Émilion (’21, ’22)
Saint-Estèphe
2023 Château Phélan Ségur Saint-Estèphe (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Ormes De Pez Saint-Estèphe
Saint-Julien
2023 Château Beychevelle Saint-Julien (’21)
2023 Château Léoville Barton Saint-Julien (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Léoville Poyferré Saint-Julien (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Saint-Pierre Saint-Julien (’21)
Sauternes and Barsac
This category was scarcely populated, with only 5 producers presented. When I asked about the vintage, everyone said with an ear-to-ear smile, “Perfect!”. And yet only 2 of 5 wines (below) were perfectly balanced, with cleansing acidity on the finish; the other 3 had a wonderful burst of bright sugar, without acidity on the finish to ever bring the wine to balance.
2023 Château Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes (’21, ’22)
2023 Château Coutet Barsac
There you are, my friends. The 2023 Bordeaux Grand Cru vintage – The Classic. Cellar it. Or drink it. It is a classic, so unless you can wait for another 40-50 years, just drink it now. Well, maybe decant some of the bottles first.
Ohh, and don’t forget to save some room in your cellars for ’24 and ’25, both mentioned with lots of emotion and pride as something “special”… Let’s just wait one year…
Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrivé! 2025 Edition
Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrivé!
Yes, it is the third Thursday in November, and you know what it means! It is time to celebrate the new harvest. The 200-year-old tradition, taking its roots in the 1800s, became the “official” celebration of the new harvest 40 years ago, claiming the third Thursday in November as an official celebratory date. This is the day when the first wine of the new harvest appears in the wine stores around the world, to the great enjoyment of the wine aficionados and geeks.
For the 15 years this blog has existed, I have made an effort not to miss a single Beaujolais Nouveau celebration, and I have been successful so far. Considering that for the past 3 years I was traveling over this special week, the effort was real – you can read about my Beaujolais Nouveau struggles in France in 2022 and Florida in 2024. This year 2025 has not been an exception since I’m currently in Dallas, Texas.
Since the beginning of the week I checked a few times that there are wine stores within walking distance of the hotel where I’m staying, so my plan was to walk to the store on Thursday and get a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau. Remembering past year’s experience, I decided to call ahead, which proven to be a challenge. One store had some google voice setup telling me to leave a message. Again no answer in the second store. Someone answered my call in the third store, but the person clearly never heard of Beaujolais Nouveau, so after a few minutes of back and forth I understood that this would not work to my favor.
The next best hope was Total Wine – but the store was 1.8 miles away, I had no car and I was in the meetings. Then it dawned on me that Total Wine has the same day delivery service, and life all of a sudden improved. I found out that Total Wine had two Beaujolais Nouveau available, so the order with delivery was quickly placed (delivery was only $4.99 for two bottles).
I was hoping that the wine could be just left with the hotel staff, but the delivery lady called me to tell me that I have to come and pick up the wine in person, as I need to sign for it, and the lady needs to make sure that I’m not drunk already. Well, I guess it is Texas after all (say it in the voice of “This is Sparta!!”).
Luckily, I set up the delivery window during my lunchtime, so it was not a problem to meet the driver and get the wine.
After my meetings ended, there was the time to taste the wine. Attention: spoiler alert! Every year, I say that the quality of Beaujolais Nouveau gets better. 2025 was no exception. 2025 Beaujolais Nouveau was not just better, but it was much better!
Every year, the bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau are adorned with specially designed labels, sometimes even multiple labels from the same producer for the same wine – I have no idea how that works. As I have been writing about Beaujolais Nouveau every year since this blog started, I can offer you a collection of labels starting with the 2010 vintage. As Georges Dubouef is the only producer I was able to taste every year, below is my little “show and tell” display limited to the labels of Georges Dubouef wines I tasted throughout the years. In case you feel like it, you can even choose your favorite label and share it in the comments (sorry, this is not a competition, so no prizes will be awarded).
Here we go:
Beaujolais Nouveau 2025 has arrived, and if you haven’t tasted one yet – what are you waiting for? Taste it now and let me know what you think! Cheers!
For the Love of Madeira
If I were to offer you a glass of Madeira, what would you say?
Okay, let’s take it up a notch: I assure you it will be a good Madeira.
Would you gladly accept it, or would you energetically decline?
I’m betting about 80% on the latter. And if you like wine, that would be simply your loss. But if you are in that 20%, accepting that glass of good Madeira would be a very wise decision.
Madeira has a long history of ups and downs, similar to many other wines. I wrote about Madeira a few times in the past (not enough!), so let me be obnoxious and quote one of my older posts about the history of Madeira.
Madeira wine takes its name from Madeira Island in Portugal. The history of Madeira, which started around the 15th century, is full of accidental discoveries, glory, overcoming of the hardship, rise and fall, and even love – if you are interested in the full story, you should take a look at the Madeira Wine website. In the 15th / 16th centuries, Madeira wine was created when wine was transported in barrels through the ocean to far away places such as India and China. It was found ( by accident, of course) that a long ocean voyage improves the taste of wine compared to the original one that went into the barrel. After many trial-and-error experiments, it became apparent that prolonged exposure to the warm weather was the culprit, and then the method of heating the wine up to 60°C (140°F) was invented. The process of heating up the wine is called Estufagem, and it is done after the wine is fermented in the oak barrels, same as any other wine – again, you can find more details online – you can find less colorful but more technical details on Wikipedia (click here). Just to give you a few more details from Madeira’s history, trade embargoes led to further improving Madeira by adding brandy spirits in order to preserve the wine. Barrels of Madeira left for a prolonged time under the rain led to the development of the new style of Madeira wine, called Rainwater.
In the 18th century, Madeira was one of the most popular wines in the world, especially in England and the United States. Madeira was used to toast the United States Declaration of Independence, and was highly regarded as a drink of distinction. Unfortunately, first mildew and then phylloxera epidemic delivered a way too powerful one-two punch, which the Madeira wine industry was unable to overcome. Madeira subsided to nearly a cooking wine level, and stayed like that for a long time. Luckily, overall uptake on the wine industry throughout the world helps to revive the Madeira industry, and now it is becoming possible to find a great drinking Madeira even in the US – and you will see why. And I have to note that one of the great qualities of Madeira is in the fact that, unlike practically any other wine, once you open a bottle of Madeira, it will stay the same more or less indefinitely, due to both the Estufagem method and fortification with the spirit.
Now that you have a bit of historical perspective, let’s take a deeper dive into Madeira wine.
Madeira is a beautiful island with a subtropical climate and luscious greenery. Madeira’s name means wood, oak – this is what the first settlers saw. Madeira’s climate sports tropical winds, hot summers, mild winters, and high humidity. It also offers lots of microclimates, from south to north. Mountains and forests cover 47% of the island, mostly with altitudes of up to 200 meters, reaching 700 meters in some areas.
There are about 475 hectares of vineyards growing on the island (about 1,200 acres), cultivated by 2,000 growers. Vineyards utilize a pergola system to ensure proper aeration.
Six main grapes are used in wine production on Madeira: Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvasia, Tinta Negra, and Terrantez. It is interesting to note that Verdelho and Verdejo are different grapes! Another interesting fact is that Tinta Negra can be vinified as white, rosé, or red.
After the harvest, the grapes are pressed and fermented as with any other wines. Fermentation is subsequently stopped, depending on the desired sweetness, by adding neutral spirit. Next, the heating process takes place. Less expensive wines are usually subjected to continuous heating in the steel tanks surrounded by coils for at least 90 days. Higher-end Madeiras, especially the single-harvest ones, are usually heated using the system called Canteiro, where the wine in the oak barrels is secured in place using wooden beams (canteiro) and heated by mother nature for a prolonged period of time, inside the winery.
The majority of Madeira wines are blends, with the labels indicating the age and type of grapes (it is also possible to make Madeira without indicating age and the grapes). The age designations can be 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years. There are also single-harvest Madeiras, called Colheita, which should be aged for at least 5 years in oak, and Frasqueira which requires at least 20 years in oak. Another beauty of Madeira is in the fact that the wine can stay in the barrel indefinitely, and bottled only when needed – some of the known Frasqueiras exceed 200 years of age.
Three years ago, in 2022, I was lucky to attend the Madeira tasting in New York City, where I had an opportunity to taste some absolutely spectacular wines. The event included a Madeira Master Class as well as a walk-around tasting.
Here are the wines we tasted during the master class:
2009 Barbeito Single Harvest Tinta Negra
clean, open, light, easy to drink
2005 H.M. Borges Tinta Negra Colheita
Hazelnuts, dry fruit, figs, lemon, perfect acidity, beautiful dry fog finish. Lots of pleasure. Foie Gras would be perfect with it.
2001 Henriques and Henriques Malvasia Madeira
Complex herbaceous nose, nicely restrained
Salinity, acidity, supercomplex, dried fruit perfectly balanced
1999 Broadbent Tinta Negra Madeira Colheita
Chocolate, dried fruit compote, very restrained
Dried fruit, great acidity, toffee, tasty notes, outstanding.
1990 Pereira D’Oliveiras Malvasia Fresqueira Madeira
Bottled in 2018
Great herbaceous complexity, fall leaves, medicinal notes, eucalyptus
Amazing palate, dense, complex, loads of dried fruit and hazelnut. Superb.
1978 Blandy’s Fresqueira Terrantez Madeira
beautiful, herbal and vegetative notes, excellent balance, hazelnuts, salinity. Fresh and inviting.
There were lots of gems in the walk-around tasting, such as Justino’s 1996, 1997, and 50 years old Madeiras; D’Olivera Colheita and Fresqueira Madeiras from 2000, 1992, 1973, 1971, and 1969 (1969 was bottled only in 2022); Broadbent 10 years old Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, as well as 1999 Tinta Negra Colheita, and others.
As I said before, Madeira really needs to be experienced, and you have a perfect opportunity to do so.
Coming November 18th, you can experience the beauty of Madeira for yourself. Here are all the details:
Experience the Magic of Madeira – Sip, Taste & Vote!
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 | 5:30pm – 8:30pm
Ideal Glass Studio | 9 W 8th Street, New York, NY 10011
Six producers, six bartenders, one delicious adventure.
You can get 2 tickets for the price of one ($55) using this link.
✨ Your ticket includes:
- Walk-Around Tasting featuring six top Madeira producers — taste rare bottles, some worth over $100.
- Cocktail Competition – six NY bartenders crafting unique Madeira cocktails. Taste and vote for your favorite!
- Food Pairings by Chef Nuno of Leitão.
- Mini “Speed Tastings” with Wines of Portugal Ambassador Eugénio Jardim, exploring Madeira styles in fun, 15-minute bursts.
- Cocktail Seminar: Madeira Cocktails Made Easy with bartender Francesco Dionese — learn how to shake, stir, and sip Madeira at home. (seating is limited).
Don’t miss your opportunity – and you can thank me later. Cheers!
Moscato d’Asti – The Joy of Sharing
Wine should give you pleasure.
This pleasure can come in many forms.
The simplest one is a pure hedonistic pleasure of that sip itself, the burst of flavor overwhelming your taste buds, and the opportunity to mindfully reflect on that very burst.
Or, with one sip of familiar wine, you can be instantly transposed in time and space – the wine can bring back memories. You can instantly imagine yourself being in Italy 5 years ago, experiencing this wine for the first time, vividly seeing the faces of the people you were there with, and reliving that beautiful moment again.
And then there is possibly the biggest pleasure of all – an opportunity to share wine with people. It is great to enjoy good wine by yourself – but that pleasure amplifies disproportionally when you pour the wine for your guests and you hear the collective “oh, it is so good!”.
I’m happy to share all of my wines with my guests, but then there are some wines that I even prefer to share. Let me explain.
I’m happy to open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, any still red, white, or Rosé. Even if nobody would share it with me, I can drink it by myself over the next 2-3 days, no problem. But I would be very reluctant to open a bottle of sparkling wine for myself – I definitely prefer to share it with friends. Especially if this is a dessert sparkling wine, such as Moscato d’Asti.
I love doing that at the end of the dinner, when nobody expects that more wine might be coming. Seeing another bottle being brought up to the table, guests’ usual and immediate reaction is “what, more wine???”. This question requires no answer; I just wait for the people to taste the wine first.
Moscato d’Asti might be one of the hidden gems of the wine world, lightly fizzed, low alcohol, and deliciously, “just enough” sweet. This wine, made from the Moscato Bianco (white Muscat) grape, comes from the area in Piedmont where Moscato wines have been made for hundreds of years. Moscato d’Asti wine in its present, lightly fizzed form was born in the 1870s, when a number of winemakers started producing it in commercial quantities. Yet despite its 150+ years of history, I would still call it a hidden gem, as many winelovers are not aware of this wine or have the wrong ideas because of its sweetness.
The beauty of Moscato d’Asti is in its lightness and effervescence, and sweetness well balanced with acidity. If you want a glass of wine with your dessert, you will have to search far and wide to find the wine that would pair better with literally any type of dessert. And at a typical 5.5% alcohol level, it is guaranteed not to overwhelm your dining experience with a heavy punch of alcohol.
I recently had an opportunity to experience this “pleasure moment” when I opened the bottle of 2024 Sansilvestro Dulcis Moscato d’Asti DOCG (5.5% ABV) to serve with dessert. Overcoming the “what, more wine” resistance, I poured the wine for my guests and encouraged them just to take a sip. The next thing I heard was “oh my god, this is so good! Can I have more, please?” – there it is, that exact oenophile’s pleasure moment, equally as pleasant as taking a sip of the wine.
Moscato d’Asti is generally well priced, with a great selection of the wines at around $15 or less, so it definitely offers a great QPR and lots of pleasure without the need for an expense account. You should always have a bottle on hand, just in case you are craving a simple pleasure – double though considering the upcoming holiday season and all the get-togethers with friends.
By the way, on the subject of Moscato – back on May 9th, we celebrated Moscato Day (it is always celebrated on May 9th). I attended wonderful festivities in New York and never wrote about them, so if you care to see some of the images from that celebration, feel free to click “more” below.
Beautiful Wines of Smith-Madrone
I love the wines of Smith-Madrone.
I’m not even trying to make it a secret.
Yes, I’m biased. But I’m not ashamed of it.
Stu Smith and his brother, Charlie, founded the winery in 1971 in the Spring Mountain District of Napa Valley. When Stu was buying a property overflowing with trees, he was told that he was making the mistake of his life. But the best wines are born out of conviction – add perseverance, gamption, hard work, ingenuity, and imagination – just get all of these ingredients, and you might also be able to make some beautiful wines.
I told you that I love the wines of Smith-Madrone. Usually, love doesn’t require proof. But if you insist, I have one – not only I wrote about wines of Smith-Madrone on multiple occasions, but their wines had been included in my Top Wines of the Year lists 4 times – #11 in 2018 (Riesling), #1 (Cook’s Flat Reserve) and #14 (Riesling) in 2019, #3 in 2023 (Cabernet Sauvignon), and #4 in 2024 (Cook’s Flat Reserve). I don’t have any other wines that so consistently appear in the Top Wines lists.
For many years, Smith-Madrone produced only three wines – Riesling, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon, with the addition of the Cook’s Flat Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon in exceptional years. A few years back, Rosé and Cabernet Franc joined the collection, and I was dying to try them ever since. This year, I finally got my hands on the wines (I rarely ask for samples, but this was one of such rare moments – I did ask…), so now I can share my tasting notes with you.
2019 Smith-Madrone Estate Riesling Spring Mountain District Napa Valley (13.3% ABV)
Light golden
Petrol mixed with honey and honeysuckle, a pure aromatherapy in the glass for a Riesling lover. Crisp, bright, honey with lemon in perfect harmony, clean and crisp finish with lots of energy.
9, a pure delight.
2021 Smith-Madrone Estate Chardonnay Spring Mountain District Napa Valley (14% ABV, 10 months in 50% new French oak)
Brilliant golden color
White plums and a touch of vanilla on the nose, a distant hint of gunflint (the wine is almost at room temperature). Apples, a touch of honey, vanilla, more apples, and a cleansing acidity. Delicious.
8+/9-, superb.
2023 Smith-Madrone Estate Rosé Spring Mountain District Napa Valley (14.2% ABV, 50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc)
Beautiful, bright crimson red
Tart cherries, fresh, on the nose. Light, inviting, elegant.
Beautiful tart cherries on the palate, well present, round, delicious.
8+, delicious Rosé with character
2021 Smith-Madrone Estate Cabernet Franc Spring Mountain District Napa Valley (14.7% ABV, 89% Cabernet Franc, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 months in 60% new French oak)
Dark garnet
Ripe black currant, dark chocolate, fat, juicy, exciting. Delicious, black currant, dark chocolate, a rich California Cab Franc style, bell pepper came in later, together with a beautiful black pepper note, spicy and delicious.
8+/9-
Truth be told, I also got a sample of the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – but this is one of my most favorite Cabernet Sauvignons ever, so I couldn’t muster the courage to open the bottle yet, and will be waiting for the right occasion later this year – maybe a Thanksgiving celebration, as I did back in 2018.
I think both Rosé and Cabernet Franc are great additions to the portfolio. Both are produced in small quantities (131 cases of Rosé, 153 cases of Cabernet Franc), and Rosé is already gone (duh, summer is ending), but the Cab Franc is still available. And if we are talking about new additions, maybe we will see a sparkling wine one day? Or wait, I might have even a better idea – how about some late harvest Riesling? Knowing the quality of Smith-Madrone Riesling, if they were ever to produce a dessert-level Riesling, I’m sure it would be an absolute delight. Oh well, maybe one day…
Here you go, my friends. I hope you had a chance to discover the wines of Smith-Madrone for yourself. If you have not, head over to the Smith-Madrone website, admire the scenery of beautiful mountain vineyards, and get a few bottles for yourself to enjoy. I guarantee you will not regret it. Cheers!
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