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Review: Don Benigno Amontillado Sherry
Sherry is not easy to come by in this town, folks. (“Cherry? Yeah, we have cherry vodka.”) If you’re seeking Sherry (and you’re lucky), the liquor store person will lead you to a dusty shelf over by the jug wines, where approximately 95% of the fortified wines will be syrupy sweet and/or flavored. Even my…
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Review: Long Shadows Poet’s Leap Columbia Valley Riesling (2022)
We can do some damage to a Riesling in this house–or as my wife says, “We make short work of tall bottles.” Riesling may not ever be trendy, but it’s classic. It’s one of my favorite white grapes. My earliest experiences with Riesling were the blue bottles of Spätlese from the grocery store or the…
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Under $12 Review: Ed Edmundo Red Blend (2020)
I am not now (nor have I ever been) “serious” about wine. Ew. Perish the thought. But at some point–and it wasn’t too long ago–there was a change. I got a little more…focused about wine. Or disciplined. Or perceptive. Something shifted, and I started paying more attention to what was in the glass. The result…
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Under $12 Review: ALDI’s California Heritage Pinot Grigio
Our wine review of the day is…ta-da! A $5 Pinot Grigio from ALDI. Wait, wait–I can explain: I bought this wine to put in my Italian sausage and kale pasta. But then I remembered that drinking bad wine helps you appreciate the good ones more. So I put on a brave face, twisted that screw…
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Rare European fruits: A wine taster’s guide
Aren’t tasting notes wild? When you write a tasting note, you’re fumbling toward objectivity–or at least toward clearly communicating a subjective experience. Sometimes, wine writers gussy up our impressions with science talk: This wine has high levels of pyrazines, this one has 9 grams of residual sugar, blah blah blah. But still, deep down, lies…
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Review: Ana Beirut Assyrtico (2023)
Today I’m tasting a bottle from the tiny wine-producing country of Lebanon. I was lucky to have a chance to try many of Ana Beirut’s Bekaa Valley wines at a Wine Authority event in December. The Assyrtico was my favorite pour from the lineup. It checks some of my favorite boxes for a white wine:…
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Are bars the last great “third place”?
Earlier this week, Starbucks rolled out a new “Code of Conduct” for their cafes. The headline- grabbing change was a directive straight from the chief executive: You can’t pee for free. Beginning soon, restrooms and seating at Starbucks will only be available to paying customers. Baristas are currently being trained on enforcing this rule. The…
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New Dallas wine bar: Palate by Lekka
North Dallas has a stylish new watering hole for wine lovers: Palate by Lekka. It’s right next door to the home-and-gift shop, Lekka Retail Concepts. (Both storefronts share a shopping center with veteran Preston Road restaurants Banana Leaf Thai and La Hacienda Ranch.) Palate actually opened right before the holidays, but it emerged on my…
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When less is more: Small wine lists are best for these 6 types of restaurants
Anyone who’s been in a grocery store lately has noticed the cereal boxes and spaghetti sauce jars are getting smaller. But wine lists are shrinking, too. On Monday, the New York Times published this trend piece from veteran wine writer Eric Asimov: Restaurant Wine Lists Are Getting Much Shorter. In the article, Asimov checks in…
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Review: Costco’s Marquis de Bern Bordeaux Supérieur (plus my top-secret lamb shank recipe)
Wines with castles and knights on the labels are fancy. That’s a wine fact. And cheap Bordeaux is always preferable to no Bordeaux. That’s a wine fact, too. Both facts were on my mind when I cautiously opened this bottle of Marquis de Bern Bordeaux Supérieur. My cellar (read: lower bar cabinet) records are a…
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Pour one out for Trova Wine Market as Dallas beverage scene continues a string of closures
CultureMap Dallas reports that Trova Wine + Market is closing next week, on January 18, 2025. It’s the latest in a series of sales and closures as Dallas’s wine and beer venues continue their rapid churn. Since 2020, the bar, bottle shop, and gourmet food market has offered wine and nibbles to a ritzy clientele…
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Review: CVNE Ribera del Duero Tempranillo (2022)
Cabernet Sauvignon may be my desert-island grape, but lately I’ve been trying to reach beyond the Bordeaux varieties to find the bold, satisfying reds I crave. Especially to drink with dinner. Cabernet and Malbec can be distracting in their bodaciousness: They strut their stuff and suck up all the attention in the room. Wines based…