Featured Wines - February 2016

Although Argentina is best known internationally for fine, full-bodied Malbecs, it is that country’s old vine Cabernet Sauvignons that garner the greatest scores and provide the grandest red wines to grace the tables of the great steak houses of Buenos Aires and Mendoza. The deeply colored 2012 Casarena Owen’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (91+ points from both Robert Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate as well as from Stephen Tanzer) is one such...

Riesling is one of the world’s most esteemed grape varieties, well-deserving of the rich praise and lofty position it enjoys among discerning wine drinkers around the world. Yet, Riesling remains underappreciated by many Americans, due at least in part to the predominance of inexpensive, low alcohol sweet Rieslings from Germany that pervaded the American market for decades and the perception that Riesling must be sweet. Not all Rieslings...

If Happy Canyon and Westerly have been off your radar, they won’t be after tasting the 2010 Westerly Happy Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon, which garnered a 92 rating from Wine Enthusiast and 94 from our own tasting panel. Westerly has fashioned a truly beautiful, classically styled Cabernet Sauvignon. As a blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot, it may just be California’s answer to top notch Bordeaux. Black currant, plum, cassis...

The 2014 Terra d’Oro Clarksburg Chenin Blanc-Viognier hails from hand-picked Chenin Blanc vineyards in the Sacramento River Delta and from the Voteau Vineyard of Amador County, a vineyard known for its exceptional Viognier. The result is one tasty, mouth-filling glass of white wine. Alluring aromas of tropical fruits, mango, and papaya grace the nose and enliven the palate. In the mouth, the Terra d’Oro Chenin Blanc-Viognier displays plush...

To reach José Antonio Martín’s Vinae Mureri Xiloca estate one must first climb a steep narrow road into the rugged heart of Aragon. There is no sign to show the way. Instead, a massive orchard of century-old cherry trees with ancient Garnacha vines interspersed among them greet visitors brave enough to make the venture, and this stand of cherry trees confirms to the rare visitor that he has indeed arrived at Xiloca. Whether it is the proximity...

Christian Beyer has once again fashioned one of the finest Alsace Pinot Blancs in the 2014 Emile Beyer Tradition Pinot Blanc. As we have come to expect from this producer, Beyer’s 2014 Tradition Pinot Blanc exudes charm, flavor, and a delicate ethereal quality that makes it both easy to drink and completely satisfying as it quickly disappears from the glass and down the throat. The aromas of Bosc pears and mountain apples laced with soft...

Malbec by nature produces a deeply colored wine and most premium Malbecs can be counted on to capture the eye with a deep purple robe that emits flashes of ruby and violet, but few beckon the taster to linger over Malbec’s aromatics the way the 2014 Casarena Estate Malbec does. Brilliant to the eye and amplifying in aroma, the 2014 Casarena Estate Malbec offers an enticing bouquet of plum and raspberry fruit, spice and forest woodlands...