Le Pousseur (100% Syrah), Bonny Doon Vineyard, 2008, Central Coast (13.5% abv) There is something transporting about this wine, like being wrapped up in a harlot’s velvet shawl. You enter the room somewhat willingly, thinking you know what you’re in store for, wanting to keep it light and fun, only to find your mind and […]

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Contra, Bonny Doon Vineyard, 2009, Contra Costa County (13.5% abv) At the mouth of Big Thompson Canyon in Northern Colorado, lies a small store that sells Black Bing Cherries.  Juices, ciders, jams, you name it. The store itself was unmissable; a large red roof over a white building from which hung hundreds of red juice […]

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La Lettre à Élise (100% Chenin Blanc), Domaine Mosse, NV, Loire Valley (13.5 % abv) I’m a ridiculously huge fan of the whites from the Loire Valley.  Just as Pavlov’s dogs salivate at the sound of his bell, simply saying the words “white” and “Loire” in the same sentence around me will cause feverish sweats […]

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Riesling Auslese, Erdener Treppchen, C.H. Berres, 1996, Mosel, Germany (8.0% alc) You want complexity?  You want range of flavor?  You want your tongue slapped around like a rag doll and taken on a journey?  Then you want some Riesling.  The noblest of the nobles that many still haven’t discovered, Rieslings can range from bone dry […]

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