Monthly Archives: September 2012

• Don’s September Collector Series Top Picks

  Joel Gott is a California legend and Gott’s Dillian Ranch Zinfandel is his most iconic offering.  This month’s feature and first Top Pick is Joel Gott’s 2009 Dillian Ranch Zinfandel.  Why?  It has everything great Zinfandel needs to possess: plenty of deep down berry fruit, bramble, spice, and a beautiful patina of oak.  It’s rich Read More

  Posted in Featured Selections, In the News

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  • September 28, 2012
  • by Don Lahey

• Don’s September Premier Series Top Picks

  Malbec is typically tough to drink young, at least to my taste, but I was delighted to find a young Malbec with a soul as well as a backbone.  Tremonte’s 2010 Single Vineyard Reserva Malbec is an exciting Chilean rendition of Argentina’s prime red grape, so this month’s first Top Pick belongs to the folks Read More

  Posted in Featured Selections, Notes from the Panel

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  • September 26, 2012
  • by Don Lahey

• Simple recipe for a hot evening: Fresh & Easy Sciue Scuie

  1 lb. small pasta (such as Ditalini) salt & pepper 3 lb. fresh Roma tomatoes – chopped 4 cloves garlic – whole 1 bunch fresh basil leaves – chopped 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella 1/2 cup olive oil In a large bowl, gently blend the tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, oil, salt, pepper and Read More

  Posted in Recipes and Pairings

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  • September 20, 2012
  • by Kristina Manning

• A Special 83 Year Old Winemaker Named Angel

  On a recent visit to Spain I had the opportunity to spend time with Angel Rodriquez, one of Spain’s most revered winemakers.  Anyone who has met Angel Rodriguez stands in awe of his tremendous accomplishment.  Visiting this spry, witty 83 year old winemaker and his beloved Martinsancho Vineyard is a rare treat and valuable lesson Read More

  Posted in Interesting Wine Info, Notes from the Panel, Wine Regions

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  • September 13, 2012
  • by Don Lahey

• Priorat

  It’s hard to imagine a more inhospitable climate and a more remote, godforsaken locale than Spain’s Priorat.  Nothing but grapes could possibly thrive in such a rugged terrain scoured by gales and mistral like winds, a land set apart from life as most of us know it.  Tiny towns, which cleave to  Priorat’s precipitous mountains Read More

  Posted in Interesting Wine Info, Wine Regions

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  • September 10, 2012
  • by Don Lahey

• The Golden Age of Wine

  This is truly “The Golden Age of Wine.”  Never before in the thousands of years of recorded human history has wine been better than it is today.  Have great wines been made in times past?  Absolutely!  But never has there been so many good wines produced than in the last two decades, and nowhere is Read More

  Posted in Interesting Wine Info

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  • September 5, 2012
  • by Don Lahey