Posted on October 20, 2012
On a recent trip with the Washington Wine Commission, I had the chance to visits my favorite winemakers in Washington state, the Shiels of Cote Bonneville. Kathy and Hugh Shiels are the proprietors and over see their estate vineyard, the famous Dubrul Vineyard. Their daughter, Kerry is the winemaker, (She also plays a mean Blackjack). I have always been very impressed with their wines. If we could marrry the best wines of Bordeaux and California and get them to reproduce, the offspring would be the wines from Cote Bonneville from the Dubrul Vineyard.
Rather than bore you with a lecture in my godforsaken writing, I chose to let you hear it from the horse’s mouth. In the following videos Kathy, Kerry and Hugh tell us why Washington wine is so unique. Pick up a glass of some Washington wine, sit back and enjoy the short seminar. (more…)
Posted on September 25, 2012
Day one of the Road Trip Washington Wine started off with a visit to one of the top wineries in Washington State, Mark Ryan Winery. Mark Ryan hosted myself and four other road trippers at his tasting room in Woodinville, half an hour outside Seattle. Mark is a guy’s guy. I don’t know if the first hint into his personality was the Triumph motorcycle in the middle of the tasting room. Maybe it was the rock posters of Pink Floyd, Supersuckers and (like a good Seattle guy) Brad. Or is it that upon arriving to his winery, his priority was to turn on the music followed by popping a cork of Bollinger Rose. That’s it! Mark is a big guy, but in no way intimidating. He’s got the personality of your best friend. Rock & roll and pink Champagne, that’s Mark Ryan in a nutshell. (more…)
Posted on July 27, 2012
Last month I had the honor of attending a tasting in which one of the local San Diego wine brokers, Rob Rubin, dug into his cellar and opened a vertical of Grgich Hills Cabernet. The vertical went from 1981 to 1997. What a treat! (more…)
Posted on July 20, 2012
About 6 years ago I had a once in a lifetime experience. I was invited to Newport Beach aboard a billionaire’s yacht to drink the release of the 1996 Krug with Olivier Krug. A few other wine buyers and myself were driven in a stretch limo from San Diego to the Newport Beach harbor, drinking the Krug Grand Cuvee all along the way. When we arrived we were greeted with an exquisite oyster, lobster and crab bar…with of course more Grand Cuvee. As the night progressed, Olivier came out and poured the ’95 vintage Krug. Here you have 20 sommeliers from LA and San Diego getting absolutely Krunked in style. (more…)
Posted on July 12, 2012
On July 9th, Don Quixote invaded Balboa Park San Diego with his Castilla-La Mancha US Tour 2012. Twenty-six of the best wineries from La Mancha poured their wines for the San Diego trade. Along with the traditional tasting, Karen MacNeil (author of the Wine Bible) hosted an informative seminar about the wines and terroir of La Mancha, Spain.
I have decided to make this post more like the way that I learn. For those that know me, I will doodle throughout our operations meetings. It might seem that I am not paying attention; however, I tend to soak up the information a whole lot better. So today I present to you the wines of La Mancha through (my doodles), as I listened to Karen MacNeil’s seminar. Enjoy! (more…)
