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Cabernet Sauvignon: The King of Grapes (Total Wine class review)
Born by happy accident in 17th-century Bordeaux, Cabernet Sauvignon is now the world’s favorite grape. Almost every wine-producing country grows a bunch of it, and almost everybody likes it. It’s no wonder that Total Wine’s “King of Grapes” class always fills the room. “Always”? Yep, this is the third time I’ve taken “King of Grapes”–but…
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Review: Château Couhins “Les Demoiselles de Couhins” Pessac-Léognan Blanc (2019)
It’s time for some Thai food and Bordeaux–let’s go! Today’s bottle is a second wine from Château Couhins, a classified old Graves estate that is now owned by the French government’s wine research institute. This dry white wine is pale lemon with a frosty appearance (it’s very cold). Superbly aromatic with gooseberry (cats), pineapple, green…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #5: Concentric Circles Red Blend (Australia)
Welcome to another Costco wine advent calendar review! This is an ongoing feature at The Wine Fairy where we annoy our palates (and possibly ruin Christmas) by tasting through a whole case full of random half-bottles this September and October. Today’s wine is the Concentric Circles Red Blend from Australia. It’s a dry red medley…
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Merlot Thursday: Matanzas Creek Alexander Valley Merlot (2021)
Happy, happy #MerlotThursday! Today we’re tasting the 2021 Matanzas Creek Winery Merlot from California’s Alexander Valley. Sonoma County winemakers since 1977, Matanzas Creek emphasizes cooler-climate sites and has built a reputation on their Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. A little Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Bordeaux-style red is also grown. Recently, the winery has branched out to…
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These are North Texas’s favorite wines: The People’s Choice Classic winners!
Thousands of GrapeFest revelers have turned in their ballots, and the results are in! The winners of the People’s Choice Wine Tasting Classic were revealed on the afternoon of Sunday, September 14 in Grapevine, Texas. All together, 34 wineries brought more than 120 wines to compete over the four days of GrapeFest. It’s all Texas…
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Review: Early Mountain “Foothills” Virginia Red Blend (2023)
Wine is great stuff–but wine people are the very best. While volunteering at the TEXSOM Conference last month, I met a wonderful couple who know a ton about Virginia wine and are eager to share their favorites with the world. Over towering racks of freshly-washed glasses, wine chat turned into more wine chat. I mentioned…
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A celebration of Texas wine at GrapeFest 2025 (Grapevine, TX)
Turn down Texas’s thermostat by a few degrees, pack tens of thousands of wine lovers into an old railroad town, and you got yourself a party! GrapeFest is a wholesome (yet wholly wine-soaked) event that arrives in the Dallas suburb of Grapevine every September. With grape stomps on the schedule and BBQ smokers on every…
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Robert Biale Vineyards tasting at The Wine Authority (Richardson, TX)
In the Cabernet-obsessed realm of Napa Valley, Robert Biale Vineyards is an outlier: A heritage winery focused mainly on Zinfandel. When commercial winemaking was restored in California after Prohibition, the Biale family, as immigrants from Northern Italy, chose to cultivate (only) this flavorful and hardy grape. Aldo Biale’s homemade wines were sold–illicitly at first–beginning in…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #4: Sheep Station Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand)
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is arguably the biggest commercial success story the wine industry has seen in decades. Millennials–including the Wine Fairy household, to be honest–just can’t get enough of its zingy tropical flavors. The Marlborough style is easy to enjoy: No aging, no corkscrew, no swirling required. You will not find a restaurant or…
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Merlot Thursday: Res Fortes “Merlot Madness” Vin de France (2021)
“Merlot Madness” may be the first #MerlotThursday wine to address the elephant in the room. “Unlike the Academy Award winning film ‘Sideways,’” the label reads, “we have always loved full fruit flavour, soft tannins, and easy drinkability.” Hey, we love all those things, too! A weekly dive into a glass of Merlot has reminded us…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #3: Champs de Foin Cabernet Sauvignon (Pays d’Oc, France)
Behind door #3 of the 2025 Costco wine calendar is…gasp! Could it be? A normal wine? So far, we’ve had a ripasso and a flavored white sangria inside the mystery box. Now, we’re getting back to basics with a regular old dry red wine from France: The Champs de Foin Cabernet Sauvignon. The appellation on…
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Big skies and big birds: A visit to Blue Ostrich Winery (Saint Jo, TX)
Eight hilltop acres, 10 Texas wines, and one lanky bird added up to a memorable Friday when we took the road north to Blue Ostrich Winery and Vineyard. This popular North Texas winery is located in Saint Jo, Texas and is part of the new-ish Texoma AVA. It’s about 90 minutes from DFW and practically…