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Local Sips: Times Ten Cellars (Dallas, TX)
A leisurely wine tasting sounded like the perfect way to end a hectic holiday weekend. Feeling curious and thirsty, I made my way to Times Ten Cellars, an urban winery in East Dallas’s historic Lakewood neighborhood. Open since 2005, Times Ten is well-known locally as a bookable venue for wedding dinners and private receptions. But…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #18: Aralena Pinot Grigio delle Venezie (Italy)
A very merry December 1st! Today is the day that good and patient boys and girls can begin opening their advent calendars to behold the first of the treasures hidden within. But at The Wine Fairy, we are neither good nor patient. So tonight it’s time for Bottle #18 from the Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar:…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #17: Cielo d’Oro Carménère (Chile)
Carménère is one of those wines that people either flee from or embrace. Appreciating this long-banished Bordeaux grape takes practice. (Or blending!) Dark red in color, full of chewy tannins, and often packing intensely vegetal flavors, it’s not likely to be selected as anyone’s house wine or wedding-table tipple. In fact, this is the first…
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Merlot Thursday: Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard “The Revivalist” Merlot (2013)
Happy #MerlotThursday, which is also Thanksgiving Day! Today, I’m grateful for three things: Merlot, Australia’s McLaren Vale region, and those generous locker-holders at the wine club who are willing to pour you exquisite samples. A rare single-vineyard Merlot was on the tasting table, the 2023 Hickinbotham “Revivalist.” After decades of supplying dry-farmed grapes for some…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #16: Starlight Wonder Chenin Blanc (Western Cape, South Africa)
December is almost upon us, and there are still eight wines lurking in the Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar crate. Will we get to them all before the holidays, or will we get sidetracked by other seasonal treats like Glühwein and Beaujolais Nouveau? Who even knows? But today, we’re back on task. We’re tasting the lone…
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Review: Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau (2025)
Posting tasting notes for Beaujolais Nouveaux is like reviewing Taco Bell’s food on Yelp. If you enjoy this kind of thing, then you’re going to continue to enjoy it–no matter what some critic has to say about it. Likewise, if you think it’s too cheesy or artificial-tasting or unhealthy, then there’s likely nothing I or…
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Merlot Thursday: Boomtown by Dusted Valley Columbia Valley Merlot (2023)
It’s mind-boggling to think about just how new most of the New World wine regions are. Bordeaux was refining its Merlot in the Middle Ages and making lists of the top vineyards two centuries ago. By comparison, Washington’s Columbia Valley became an AVA in 1984. (Which, contrary to what social media is always trying to…
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Happy Beaujolais Nouveau Day! Here’s eight fun facts to pair with a glass of Beaujolais
While you’re busy shopping for cranberry sauce and turkey and pie, it’s easy to overlook November’s other foodie holiday. That’s right–tomorrow is Beaujolais Nouveau day! Beaujolais Nouveau is released on the third Thursday in November, exactly one week before Thanksgiving Day. It’s an unofficial beginning to the festive season, and a great excuse to cut…
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Local Sips: Tasting Texas Pinot Noir (and more) at Red Dirt Cellars (Grapevine, TX)
They say you can’t grow Pinot Noir in Texas…but Texans are a feisty bunch who don’t hearken to the word “can’t.” That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Pinot Noir, as a rule, likes a long, consistent growing season and a cool to moderate climate. Those are two things we definitely don’t have here, where summer temperatures…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #15: Flutter Rosé (Aude, France)
Fifteen wines into the 2025 Costco advent calendar, and finally we uncover a rosé! Thank goodness. I know it’s almost winter, but I will never turn down pink wine, no matter the season. The package of Flutter Rosé is appealing, too–its millennial-friendly label swathed with dusty pink, tasteful foil accents, and Luna moths. But will…
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Champagne Laurent-Perrier tasting at Pogo’s Wine & Spirits (Dallas, TX)
I used to credit most of Champagne’s popularity to marketing glitz. It’s all about the image, right? I guzzled cheap Cava and grocery-store Crémant, feeling smug and wise. But I was wrong. Good Champagne, alas, occupies its own tier of deliciousness among sparkling wines. The bubbles are finer, the texture richer, the flavors brighter and…
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Wine Tasting Placemats (Free downloadable file)
Hi, wine friends! I have a new, free download to use for your wine tasting groups and holiday parties: A printable Wine Tasting Placemat! The backstory: I was hosting a Texas wine tasting at The Wine Fairy house this week, and I invited a couple more people than usual. With a few dozen glasses on…