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Latest Blog Posts
Wine of the New Year: Champagne J.M Labruyère Prologue Extra Brut
Yes, New Year’s day is more than a week behind us, and in any event, the dawn of 2021 wasn’t a terribly celebratory event. But I have a bottle of something very special in front of me, and I have to announce it as my…
Wines of the Year!
My 2020 wines of the year—a white, a red, a Champagne, and a rosé—are a slam dunk. Without further ado, here they are: WHITE: Gundlach-Bundschu Estate Vineyard Gewurztraminer 2019: This hits it out of the ballpark. Aromatic, balanced, crisp and rich, it’s dry unlike many…
Thanksgiving Wines for 2020!
Thanksgiving will soon be here, and you're probably starting to put together your menu. And as it looks like most of the country will be in what amounts to another Covid19 lockdown, wine and family sound like just the ticket. So, I politely suggest that…
Wine of the Week: Beyond Broke Road Pinot Gris 2018
Wine Flair's Wine of the Week, an Australian number called Beyond Broke Road Pinot Gris 2018, is probably one that creates a little confusion. That's because Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are the same grape, genetically. So why the name difference? And what's the difference…
Wine of the Week: Don Zoilo Williams & Humbert Oloroso Sherry
Wine-Flair Wine of the Week is Don Zoilo Williams & Humbert Oloroso Sherry, 12 Years Old. Many Americans have heard of Sherry but relatively few have ever tasted it, and I’ll wager that most of those few have only as “cooking Sherry,” found on a…
Wine of the Week: Beringer Bros. US Voted Dry Whisper Sister 2017
Ok, an unusual name for this Wine Flair Wine of the Week! A play on prohibition, evidently (I was not there) in the '20s you could get access to booze in a Speakeasy through a strong-willed woman, a "Whisper Sister." In this case, it was…
Wine of the Week: Kiona Estate Red Mountain Lemberger 2018
Welcome to the Wine-Flair Wine of the Week! Yes, I know it sounds like a disgusting cheese. Or maybe a quiche from Germany. It's actually a delicious red wine made from a grape that's originally from upper Styria, now Slovenia, once part of Yugoslavia. The…
Wine of the Week: Château Labat 2015
I know you can get this at Wine.com, but I think (and hope) you can find it at many more outlets. If you do, buy some. Especially if you haven't tried French wine, and specifically Bordeaux, but would like to...out of curiosity, if nothing else.…
Wine of the Week: Cornerstone Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection 2016
OK so this Wine-Flair Wine of the Week is about a 50-buck wine. And it's a classic Napa ballsy Cab: rich and concentrated dark fruit, balanced, lovely tannins and a long finish. Some (including me) may detect a little residual sweetness right out of the…
Wine of the Week: Bonny Doon Beeswax Vineyard Picpoul 2019
This wonderful white wine is the product of Randall (Randy) Graham, the quirky and unique founder of Bonny Doon, an enterprise that he created to produce American versions of the best Rhône wines. He's run into some tough times in the last few years, a…
Wine of the Week: Cavaliere D’Oro Primitivo Puglia 2017 IGT
Conventional wisdom is that Primitivo was brought to California around 1968, and scientists at UC Davis declared it the same grape and wine we call Zinfandel in the US. But as far as I can tell--and there are at least a half-dozen versions of the…
Low-Cal, Low-Alcohol Rosé vs. Traditional: Which Wins?
I walked onto a mediocre liquor store in New Brunswick, New Jersey the other day. Staring me in the face was a rather poorly-configured display of Cupcake "LightHearted" wines which, according to Travel + Leisure Magazine, "locks in at less than 80 calories...eight percent alcohol…