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Top 20 Wines of 2021!

It’s the end of another crazy year. Again it was very different than a normal year, as the large wine tastings and festivals were cancelled, and instead of sampling 600-800 wines, our field of view was once again smaller. This year it was more in the neighborhood of 200-300. Some make a more memorable impression,

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Classic Napa Cabernet Sauvignon from Buena Vista

We have a few wines we tried near the end of the year which still need a review, and some will be on our Top 25 list from 2021 that will be out soon. This wine falls into both of those categories. When you find an excellent Napa Cabernet for under $40 it is a

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Perfectly Aged 2015 Bargain Bordeaux

Great vintage Bordeaux, as we have said many times, is one of the best things on the planet. You can get top Cru quality from lesser Chateaux in a great vintage, and pay very little considering the overall value. Plus they age beautifully, and not just the big names. This wine is a classic example

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A Look at the Malbecs of Valentin Bianchi

Valentin Bianchi emigrated from the small town of Fasano, Italy in 1910. He landed in Argentina, more specifically in the village of San Rafael, in the Uco Valley of the Mendoza Region. Some years later, in 1928, he realized his dream to own a vineyard and winery when “El Chiche” was established, which means “the

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Spectacular Red from Pascual Toso – Special Occasion Wine

Pascual Toso produces a great line of wines in the Mendoza region of Argentina, in the foothills of the Andes and at high elevation. We reviewed a range of their wines several years ago, which you can read more about here. That tasting was with Felipe Stahlschmidt, winemaker at Pascual Toso. It was also the

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World Class Cabernet from Chile

It was way back in 1987 when Concha y Toro introduced the Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon. Since then it has been nothing but accolades for this iconic wine. Wine Spectator Top 100 lists and high 90’s point scores follow it. Discerning connoisseurs do as well. This is about as good as it gets, and it

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Two Extreme Value Sparkling Wines from Domaine Bousquet

We’ve reviewed many wines from Domaine Bousquet over the past few years, and some of our favorites have been their sparkling wines. These tend to provide some of the best value wines we run across. This year’s versions, both white and rosé, are in for review just in time for the holidays. Both wines are

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Top Shelf Champagne Without the Sticker Shock – From Bruno Paillard

Top end French Champagne can be very expensive. We’ve all seen the celebrity or reality TV scenes where people are opening $300 bottles of Cristal and spraying them around. Most of us can’t afford to do that. Even if you can, why would you waste good wine? Open some $15 bubbly for that.

To be

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Good Value, Low Priced California Cabernet

You don’t find too many quality wines for $10, especially on the red side of the aisle. Yet here is one that does deliver for that price point. It’s not Chateau Latour, but it is fairly complex, smooth and overall an enjoyable wine drinking experience. Let’s take a look.

Wine: 2018 Chateau Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon

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Juicy Red from Santa Barbara

Below we review a red blend made with grapes from Santa Barbara County. Here the fog rolls in from the ocean and blankets the grapes, keeping temperatures cooler and allowing the grapes to hold their acidity. The name of the wine says it all. Let’s see what we think of the Fog Theory.

Wine: 2019

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