My Website

The back of a wine labels tells you almost nothing about what a wine tastes like. The people being paid to write it are all writing with the goal of making you think, “oh, that sounds good (enough to buy)!”

They write about everything as if it’s a 1st Growth Bordeaux (dark, full-bodied, and as smooth as a wet swan’s bill), and most of the time, the more that they’ve written about it (or the more that someone has paid someone else to write about it), the worse the wine is. Perhaps I shouldn’t say “worse?” Maybe I should say “the less noteworthy” or the “blander” the wine is?

The only real way to know what a bottle of wine tastes like is to taste it. The more someone has to write about it to get you to buy it, the worse the wine is; there’s a reason that no one hires people like me to write grandiloquent descriptions on the labels of $200 bottles of Burgundy.

Cheap Drinks | No Comments

Importer Ed Barker talks about and pours three fantastic New Zealand white wines that he imports, and reminds us that New Zealand can strut its terroir just as well as Napa and the Loire!

Cheap Drinks, New Zealand, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Wine Reviews, Wine Videos | No Comments

Click here to get some “employee training” and watch while Cole helps Whitney get up to speed with some entry-level Bordeaux. Wine tasted: Barons de Rothschild-Lafite Reserve Speciale

Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cheap Drinks, Merlot, New World, Old World, T.B. Ackerson Wines, Wine Reviews, Wine Videos | No Comments

Pair foods from a specific region with wines of a specific region. Wines from specific regions have been tailored over the last two thousand years to be wines that go well with the foods of the region in which the wines were grown; it’s only in the last fifty years or so that wine has traveled outside of the region in which it was made. 

That’s why, when I went to Pomme de Terre (a tiny, seasonal French bistro in my neighborhood), and had no idea what we were going to order from the menu, I brought a bottle of southern French white. It was the correct answer to the question, “what would we drink if we were in a cafe in Lyon in the dead of summer?” 

Specifically I chose Jean-Marc Lafarge 2008 Catalan Blanc Côte Est. It was a blend of Marsanne, Chardonnay, and Grenache that produced a refreshing wine that hung aromas of white tropical fruits on a skeleton of lemon piths and limestone. 

It paired wonderfully with crispy squid, sauteed frog legs, cucumber/watermelon salad, and even the rabbit pappardelle covered in a heavy red wine sauce. 

If we were at an Aussie grill house, I would have brought a brawny Shiraz. If were eating marinara, I would have brought something from Campagna. If we had paella, (now that’s a complicated pairing if you don’t follow this regional rule!), I would have brought a wine from Valencia. 

So if you’re ever stuck at a restaurant and the waiter doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about, then just order a wine from the same place that inspired your food.

Chardonnay, Cheap Drinks, France, Grenache/Garnacha/Cannonau, T.B. Ackerson Wines, Wine Pairings | No Comments

Soft yellow and red tropical fruit. Papaya, Mango, and Pineapple. Touches of toasty French oak. Not mind-blowing, but instead, value-driven. 

It’s also a little bit hot, but not many looking for an under $15 Chardonnay will notice. 

The Angeline went wonderfully with Fennel & Dill Shrimp.

California, Chardonnay, Cheap Drinks, New World, T.B. Ackerson Wines | No Comments