AWESOME! We had the 1997 Napa Cabernet for dinner last night along side another well known Napa Valley Cabernet producer. The wines were perfectly matched for a comparison tasting - both 1997s, both from Napa Valley and both produced within 4 miles of each other. There was no comparison. Our ...

We recently opened a 1996 Leonardini Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. What a great bottle of wine! Ten years was the perfect aging time on this wine since the tannins were still intact, but soft, the fruit was opulent and the oak, very subtle. If you have any of this wine around, ...

Fourth of July is a big deal in our family. We always eat some fantastic food and drink some incredible wines from producers all over the world. This year was no different. Some of us always start out with a margarita and some with the new release Chardonnay. Tom Sr. ...

The 4th of July was a good one this year because of the wines. I wrote about our 1999 Napa Valley Merlot and Cabernet tasting that day. Both were great. In keeping with the true spirit of Independence Day and those incredible wines, I thought it would be appropriate to ...

One of the highlights of the Morocco trip my wife and I recently took was staying with La Baraka Auberge just outside of Merzouga, on the border of the Sahara, about 100 km’s from Algeria. Our host, Hassan Outaleb, was a film-star cum philosopher Berber of nomadic heritage who has run La Baracka for several...

The above image came from the nature conservancy Website. For more on what they’re suggesting, just visit this link: The Nature Conservancy Website . Yes, the designated “hour” for “Earth Hour” came ... … Alliteration in wine, and that’s just fine. My Raley’s carries it, and I’m like a homing pigeon to the shelf when a box is just about empty. Champagne for New Years, Merlot for Earth Day. As you can...

The 1 ends an era—even if founder Warren Winiarski refuses to use the word "sale," calling the winery's changing of hands a "transition" instead. That manipulation of semantics is classic Winiarski. He likes to frame things his own way.

Filmmaker Sydney Pollack was one of the first artists I heard discuss his works in person—what he intended to portray on the big screen and how they were interpreted. Pollack, who died yesterday, directed and starred in many great films, among them They Shoot Horses Don't They , Jeremiah Johnson ...

NOT! That is to say, I've been repeating myself for about three weeks: Question: when are the grapes coming in?Answer: Merlot, probably early next week. Cabernet, probably 1 or 2 weeks after the Merlot. A few years ago, our son Gabriel was born just before our last pressload of the 2003 harvest ... varietals, that is). Yes, it's a late harvest and we just received our first measurable rain...

Pictures from the Dallas Uncorked and Kitchen 1924 TexaCali Wine Co. Tasting a few weeks ago... Thanks Hayley! More pics at the bottom of this page on www.texacaliwine.com