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Review: Kith & Kin Russian River Valley Chardonnay (2022)
Poor Chardonnay. It got too popular for its own good, and now it’s facing an epic backlash. “Anything but Chard,” say the trendy drinkers at the bottle shop and the wine bar. Meanwhile, the Chardonnay bottles sit on the shelf with their golden, sloping shoulders and plead: Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. Don’t hate…
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WSET Level 2 Class: Week 1 Thoughts
To be honest, I’m not completely sure what I’m doing here. Just a few months ago, I was a wine drinker–meaning a normal lady who drinks wine. A little knowledge here and there, a few opinions and preferences. I’ve seen “Sideways” once, maybe twice. I have Wine Folly on my coffee table. I always bring…
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Llano Estacado acquired, plans expansions in Lubbock and Fredericksburg
Llano Estacado Winery is staking out new territory, according to a press release from January 14, 2025. Texas’s largest premium winery was recently purchased by a group of investors with big plans. Currently, Llano Estacado has just one public location: A tasting room in Lubbock, Texas that also includes a 200-person event center. The planned…
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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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What Is This Thing? Buzzballz Choco Chiller
Welcome to another edition of What Is This Thing?, in which your intrepid wine blogger reviews wine-adjacent, wine-ish, and not-quite-wine products. Fact: Despite their liquor-shooter appearance and sexually suggestive names, Buzzballz Chillers are technically wine. “Orange Wine With Cream & Natural Flavors,” to be precise. It’s all part of Buzzballz’s unique genius, and one of…
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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…
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Review: Louis Bouillot Perle de Vigne Crémant de Bourgogne
Cleaning out the wine fridge after New Year’s, and I find this bottle shoved all the way in the back. Quel dommage! I forgot to serve it at the party. I opened a bag of leftover cheese cubes, pulsed all the extra charcuterie-board olives into a tapenade, and popped that cork for me and my…
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Don’t Napa my Fredericksburg: Can Texas wineries stay affordable?
The Californication will continue until morale improves! Yes, it’s true: Tech and finance dollars–combined with voracious agrotourism–are coming for Texas’s wine industry. The great relocation of California residents to Texas has kept up its pace, remaining the largest state-to-state migration pattern every single year since 2020. We’re all feeling anxious about it. “Don’t California My…
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Review: Sea Sun California Pinot Noir (2022)
When a weather delay turns your 40-minute flight into an 8-hour sojourn at Houston Hobby, then it’s time to wine. For atmosphere, I wanted a little taste of Galveston, so I grabbed a barstool at The Spot. For wine, I was looking for something red that wouldn’t turn my mouth every shade of purple. I…
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How to conquer the wine list: 7 tips for ordering like a pro
“Have you had a chance to look over the wine list?” It’s a simple question that strikes panic in the wine beginner’s heart. There’s a double-sided piece of paper (or maybe it’s an entire binder) in your hands and there’s all these foreign words and what seems like random prices. You want to find a…
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What Is This Thing? Tinto de Sol Calimocho
Welcome to the first installment of What Is This Thing?, in which we try odd bottles from the periphery of the world of wine. Today I’m tasting Tinto de Sol Calimocho. Is it wine? The label helpfully describes it as an “aromatized wine-product cocktail.” So, yes? Let’s get into it! Calimocho (also spelled Kalimoxto) is…