Aglianico, Old World vs New World
I’m getting ready for a trip to Campania in Southern Italy. Aglianico is one of the main grape varieties grown there and I wanted to try some varietal Aglianico’s before my trip. So, I called up a few of my wine friends and put together a blind tasting…
Tasting Marshall Stuart Fine Wines Again
Once again, we have the pleasure of tasting a few of the new releases from Marshall Stuart Fine Wines, along with an older vintage of his amazing 2015 Zinfandel. Marshall Stuart has been making wines in the Temecula Valley for over 25 years. His…
Winery in Focus: Claiborne & Churchill
Like many of you this year, I have been a bit stir-crazy staying home for the first three months of the pandemic and then at most just traveling within 30 minutes to an hour outside of my home. As things…
Tempranillo: Spain vs. Temecula Valley
While still very much under the radar in California, Tempranillo is increasingly showing up as a varietal wine in warmer regions such as the east side of Paso Robles and the Temecula Valley where high diurnal temperature swings and an arid climate bear striking similarities to its native Spain. With these parallels providing a sort of talking point, “The Crush” recently decided to organize a blind tasting of wines in a sort of showdown fashion. Three Temecula Valley Tempranillos were grouped together with four Spanish Tempranillos in a blind format…
Gerd Anselmann 2016 Riesling Kabinett (Pfalz)
Enter this lovely German Riesling. Produced by Weingut Anselmann, this is 100% Riesling from an estate vineyard. This Riesling definitely over-delivered for the price. As such I would highly recommend you pick up a bottle or two for that night you need something to cut your spicy dinner with.
Sparkling Wines for 2020 (and beyond)
With all the red wine that I drink between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I find that I am left a bit palate fatigued by the time the New Year rolls around. How timely it is that the worldwide tradition of popping open a bottle of bubbly happens just when I need a change of wine style. Sparkling wine itself tends to be high in acid–and when taking into account the effervescent qualities as well, it becomes a serious tonic for the tired palate…
The Quest For Pinot Noir
This summer “The CRUSH” took a road trip up the beautiful California coast on a quest for Pinot Noir. We embedded ourselves in the Santa Ynez Wine Country for the first time to try their wines. Our pursuit for Pinot…
Winery In Focus: Villa Di Calabro
A few days ago while walking around Old Town Temecula we decided to walk into Villa di Calabro to try some wines. It had been at least 3 years since our last visit and we were anxious to see what…
Tasting Marshall Stuart Fine Wines
On a crisp Saturday night, as the tourists in the valley stumbled away from our beautiful Temecula Wine Country, Dena and I were heading in. Marshall Stuart and his lovely wife Shannon were hosting an exclusive tasting of his own…
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