Cellars

Great packaging design for JAQK Cellarsdesign by : hatch designvia : notcot.org and thedieline.com

Photo take by AbuAs the end of the growing season begins to creep on me, I am lamenting the fact that I won't be able to just pluck something I need from the balcony garden, or pick it up at our local Farmer's Market.I've got canning, drying, and vegetables good for storage on the mind. The only problem is that I live in a relatively small apartment, and have a lack of proper storage space.Living

Varietal : Blend (Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc) Size : 750ml Region : Columbia Valley, WA Country : USA Weight : 5.00 lbs Price : $18.00 Purchase :FinestWine.com Description : This non-vintage blend consits of 3 varietals; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The grapes in this blend are harvested from 3 different Washington Vineyards over 3 years. All wine was aged in [...]

Type : Dessert Wine Vintage : 2005 Region : Washington Weight : 5.00 lbs Price : $55.00 Purchase :FinestWine.com Description : Dunham Cellars is dedicated to crafting wines that are age-worthy yet approachable. This delicate balance begins in the vineyard, with the cooperative relationship maintained between grower and winemaker. All fruit is hand-harvested, and then treated to gentle crushing tec

There is still a week remaining in the Beijing Olympic games for athletes to capture medals, but for Washington's Olympic Cellars the hopes of gold have been cut down in size.The U.S. Olympic Committee went after the small winery, which is named for the peninsula where it is located and the nearby Olympic Mountains. The Olympic Committee has federal law on its side and can take any business to cou

I had the pleasure of going to Sparkman Cellars release party this past weekend up in Woodinville, Washington. Sparkman started up in 2004 and this release is their biggest to date.  What was especially fun about the release party is that we had the chance to try some wines that are not yet available to [...]

August is here, and that means more family reunions, bbq's and before you know, Labor Day. MyWinesDirect has an offer that you won't be able to turn down. You can save $10 off + FREE shipping on their Best Sellers Cellars wine pack. Click the link below to get your coupon code. MyWinesDirect $10 off coupon This offer is valid through August 31st.

As promised I’ll show posts some notes on the medieval cellars that I visited while I was working in Linköping. There are several medieval cellars that have been preserved to our days around the city, most of them in the area between the main square and the dome; I got to visit five of them.   As [...]

Some people you meet and immediately you feel welcome and at ease. That is exactly what happens when you walk into Woodhouse Family Cellars in Woodinville, WA. We had the pleasure today of tasting five exceptional wines from a producer who’s wines will only continue to get better and more sought after. [...]

Varietal: Shiraz Vintage: 2006 Colour: Red Style: Dry Producer: Ascender Cellars Winery Origin: Australia - South East Australia Alcohol Content: 13.5% Bottle Size: 75cl Price: €10.99 Purchase: FinestWine.com Description: This big Aussi shiraz is very dark and rich. There is excellent weight of ripe plummy bittersweet cherry fruits with just a hint of spice and cedar wood. This is a delicious w

Another summer is quickly coming to an end, and I hope everyone got a chance to visit their favorite local vineyard for a tour or a wine tasting. The highlight of my summer is always being able to visit the northern Michigan wineries. This summer, I got a chance to go up to the Leelanau [...]

Saturday we went to our local wine store, Capitol Cellars in Roseville, for a Ramey Wine Cellars tasting. Five wines were poured, and to my excitement they tasted one of my favorite Napa Valley wines, the Ramey Jericho Canyon Vineyard. But let's stat at the beginning...First to be poured was the 2006 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($39). A round chardonnay with tropical fruit, creamy lemon, cooked apple and oak notes, with good acidity. A good start indeed with nice acidity backing up the fruit and oak.Next was the 2006 Russian River Valley Chardonnay ($39). This wine had some more complexity to it and was fitting my palate better with tropical fruit, citrus, white floral, and again the slightly buttery oak. Good acidity balance the fruit and makes it complex, and refreshing/crisp, at the same ti

Producer: Rosenblum Cellars Wine: Rhodes Vineyard Grenache Rosé Vintage: 2004 Country: USA Appellation: Redwood Valley Wine Type: Rosé Primary Varietal: Grenache Grade: B Price: $9 Buy this wine: Finestwine.com So, I’m still just warming up to the Rosé. Anything neither red nor white scares me a little bit. It could be traumatic memories of White Zinfandel in boxes of wine kept in my college dorm [...]

Leelanau Cellars markets this unique spiced wine as Witches’ Brew around Halloween, but let me assure you that it is a great wine to have on hand throughout the winter. This wine has two labels, the Halloween one (Witches Brew) and the label for the rest of the year, simply named Leelanau Cellars Spiced Wine. Leelanau [...]

This Saturday the tasting room at the winery in Alameda will be closed due to a private event for wine club members. Regular (11-6) hours today and Friday and back to normal on Sunday. Rosenblum Cellars tasting room hours Rosenblum Cellars tasting room hours

In addition to some good wine on Saturday, we also had a visit from a couple of regulars: Walter and Rita. Formerly investors, they’re now lined up to be club members, if I recall correctly. Anyway, Walter is very, er, enthusiastic and boisterous, and the whole room knows when he arrives. Usually because [...]

March Madness is upon us….at Rosenblum Cellars, anyway. It’s Open House this weekend: the best party on the island. When: March 8 & 9—this Saturday & Sunday–noon to 5 pm What: dozens of wines will be poured including new releases 2006 Rhodes Grenache** 2006 Richard Sauret Zinfandel 2006 Kontrabecki Zinfandel** 2006 Rominger Syrah 2006 Monte Rosso Zinfandel 2006 Abba Syrah 2006 Pickett Road Petite [...]

Only 312 cases was made of the Fiddlehead Cellars 2003 Lollapalooza Santa Rita Hills Fiddlestix Pinot Noir.Lollapalooza is an old English word for "the best of its kind".A clear, dark, ruby color, with a touch of purple, meets you in the glass.The nose shows dark cherry, raspberry, spice, and from 15 months in French oak, vanilla and oak.The palate has similar character with dark cherry, ripe red currant, raspberry, nice, light spice, and brandied cherries at the very finish. Great acidity and well integrated, silky tannins, with a firm touch at the finish makes this wine a winner.We had this wine about a year ago in a restaurant and picked up a bottle to enjoy it again at home at a later time. It is as good as I remembered it to be and wish I had picked up some more... Great balance betw

Friday was Rosenblum’s holiday staff party. This one had tons of food, almost as much as there was at the End of Harvest Lunch. This time there was smoked salmon and apple-doused ribs with a few side dishes and many desserts. And, of course, there was a table full of wine. Sparklers such as Roederer and a variety of still wines, including older Rosenblum choices, were available, but my eye immediately went to the array of Robert Biale selections. I couldn’t help but go for the Black Chicken. Other than that, I was a distant bystander. As everyone ate and drank and laughed downstairs, we ate our food up behind the bar, looking down on the action in between pours. That’s why the tasting room has its own party, but I couldn’t help but watch wistfully as everyone traded white elephant gifts and someone ended up with the painting of a rose in bloom again, which Shauna later stole. (more…) Rosenblum’s holiday staff party

I could not resist picking up a bottle of Valhalla Cellars 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon when I saw it on the shelf in the local grocery store. Being from Sweden with our heritage of Norse Gods and Valhalla I just had to try this wine that I had never heard of before. I just loved the label with the viking ship!Valhalla Cellars was founded in 2001 by Todd Martin and Madeleine Beeler Warner, both of Scandinavian decent. Therefore the name of their label. They are small producers that buy grapes from top vineyards in areas that produce the best quality grapes for the wine they intend to produce.This wine was fermented in open top fermenters with the cap punched down 3 times daily. It was then aged for 21 months in 60% new and 40% two year old French Oak. Only 70 cases produced.The wine has a very dark dense ruby color in the glass with slight cloudiness. Red cherry, dark red currant, liquorice and vanilla meets you on the nose. It is relatively smooth on the palate with red fruit,

The Duck Pond 2005 Oregon Pinot Noir is made from grapes grown in the Willamette Valley, with 91% from the south Salem Hills and 9% from the Red Hills. The soil in these vineyards are primarily "Jory" soil, a week volcanic ash and rock type that promotes a low-yielding crop, giving the wine special characteristics.It shows a clear ruby/purple color in the glass. The nose offers soft fruit and berries with red cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and obvious smokey tobacco aromas.In your mouth it continues on the more elegant fruit notes with red cherry, raspberry, and here the tobacco and especially the smoke stands out and lingers, way past the fruit is gone, on the palate. It is definitely of the more elegant style with lighter red fruit and berries. I wish this medium bodied wine was a little bit more complex on fruit/berries, which are on the thin side, to stand up better to the smokey aspect of it.Find this wine at Wine-Searcher.com from $17.49.Vote for my blog here and help me stay in

One of the most famous names in California wine has been sold. Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, a Napa Valley winery recognized as a consistent producer of great wines, is being sold to a partnership of Italian winemaker Marchese Piero Antinori and Ste Michelle Wine Estates, the giant Washington state wine company.Warren Winiarski, 79, his wife, Barbara, founded Stag's Leap in 1972. The winery's first vintage, a 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon, played a key part in the famous Judgment of Paris tasting in 1976 that put California wines on the map in a head to head tasting with wines from Bordeaux. The sale includes the Stag's Leap brand, the SLV and Fay estate vineyards and the winery. Winiarski retains the Arcadia Vineyard and will provide grapes to the Antinori and Ste Michelle. Antinori and Ste Michelle have another joint venture, Col Solare, a wine produced in Washington. Ste Michelle's brands include Chateau Ste Michelle, Columbia Crest, Erath Vineyards and Conn Creek.

In what is believed to be a record selling price for a residential property in Toronto, an opulent Forest Hill mansion has been purchased for $15.8 million.The 16,000 square foot Dunvegan Rd. home has eight bedrooms, 13 washrooms and an indoor six-car garage. The sale of the home in one of the city's toniest neighbourhoods demonstrates the strength of the luxury home market in Toronto, fuelled by stellar returns on Bay Street as the Toronto Stock Exchange hits record levels.

Bighorn Cellars was founded by Bill Hill in the 1970's and his mission is to produce wines from exceptional vineyards in the best growing regions for each varietal. The Chardonnay is therefor grown in Carneros while other varietals are grown in other areas. Pinot Noir for example is grown in Willamette Valley and Sonoma Coast. The 2004 Los Carneros Camelback Vineyard was barrel fermented in 100%, 1 to 2 year old, French Oak. After that allowed to go through secondary malolactic fermentation. Then bottled without filtration and aged in the bottle until release.It has a golden, light straw color in the glass. Initially on the nose, buttery oak overshadows everything else, but letting it sit in the glass for 5 minutes very different aromas appear. This time soft floral and citrus steps in with the oak and leaves a more balanced impression. Tasting the wine, ripe apple and pear, with citrus and some tropical fruit shows up. The mouth feel is round and soft with creamy oak that doesn't st

Tonight we are having a wine loving guest over and I opened the Sea Smoke Cellars 2004 Botella Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir. This is an absolute favorite since a couple of years back. Very hard to get a hold of unless you are willing to pay twice the price of original "retail price".I was lucky to get a hold of a couple of bottles at $55 at a local wine shop when it was first released.This wine displays a clear ruby red/purple color in the glass. The first thing that greets you on the nose is black cherries that opens way for the black berry, lingon berry and subtle oak.Sipping this beauty you discover that there is more fruit/berries on the nose than on the palate, although it displays wonderful black cherry and black currant with a spicy note. It is well balanced with firm tannins and good acidity that provides a nice back bone. Full bodied with a long savory finish. Over all a great Pinot Noir that will last quite a few more years in the bottle! This was my last bottle and I wish I h

This Saturday I went to a tasting at my local wine store, Capitol Cellars, where two boutique wineries from Napa Valley were pouring their wine.Let's start with the larger of the two, Falcor Wine Cellars. Falcor was founded in 1995 by Trial Lawyers Jim Peterson and Mike Bee. They got winemaker Ray Coursen on board, who has been in the wine industry since 1983, created Elyse Winery in 1987 (named after his daughter), and has since then added the Jacob Franklin label (named after his son).The 2003 Bacigalupi Vineyard Russian River Valley ($33) has some white floral and tropical fruit on the nose. It is very round and creamy on the palate with a good amount of oak and the typical buttery flavor. A very good Chardonnay if this is your style. If you prefer a more light and not so oaky Chard, you need to look elsewhere...The 2004 Napa Valley Sangiovese ($30) is made in the "Super Tuscan" style with 88% Sangiovese and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. Red cherries and licorice on the nose with an ear