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Merlot Thursday: Clos Pegase Napa Valley Merlot (2023)
A few things have happened since I started writing about Merlot every #MerlotThursday. First, I’ve gained a fresh appreciation for the variety and all its styles and nuances. Second, I’ve gotten better–not perfect, but better–at recognizing Merlot in blind tastings. And third, people have started to approach me with their Merlot stories. The last Merlot…
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Let’s unbox the 2026 Costco holiday wine calendar!
Today we snagged the 2026 Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar! For the third year in a row, we’ll be tearing apart that bright blue cardboard and digging into a selection of international wines from the warehouse giant. Read on to find out what’s new in the 2026 calendar, which wines are returning, and how to keep…
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Your Hill Country wine trip: A wine lover’s guide to tasting Texas
Planning a Texas Hill Country wine trip? There’s so much exciting wine being made in Texas, and the choices can be overwhelming. The Fredericksburg and Johnson City area features over 50 wineries and tasting rooms along the 30-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 290. In total, the greater Texas Hill Country region is home to over…
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Review: Alma das Donas “Almalarga” Ribeira Sacra Godello (2024)
I had tasted at least 70 wines that afternoon, and I couldn’t stop thinking about this one: a stealthily excellent Godello from Galicia. Long tastings are demanding. Your mouth gets tired, your notes get scribbly, your memory gets fuzzy. Some gentler wine styles get drowned out as your palate is bombarded with oak and tannins.…
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How I score wines
How are wine scores calculated for The Wine Fairy blog? What do the different scores mean? I’m so glad you asked! Having published almost two hundred bottle reviews in the last 18 months, I realized this explanatory post is long overdue. In this article, I share some of my methodology and philosophy of grading wines.…
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Review: Cantina Produttori di Cormòns Collio Sauvignon (2024)
Is your phone popping off with TravelZoo ads and photos of everyone‘s summer in Europe? Are you scrolling through eye-popping food pics while mentally cleaning out a fridge full of leftovers? If so, there’s only one antidote: Grab a crisp, vacation-ready bottle of wine and cook something you actually want to eat. Today’s wine comes…
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Merlot Thursday: Orin Swift “Advice from John” California Merlot (2024)
“There is no arguing about taste” is a maxim that goes back centuries. But as wine fans and wine critics, that’s what we absolutely love to do, regardless. Let’s taste wine! Argue about taste! Then open another bottle and argue about taste some more. Today’s wine is a very popular Merlot from the very popular…
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TEXSOM Sommer Camp 2026: The most exciting week in wine
It’s a reunion that I’ve been awaiting for many months: TEXSOM 2026 and almost an entire week of Sommer Camp! Sommer Camp starts in Irving, Texas on August 20. In the summer of 2025, I was a raw beginner with stars in my eyes and a brand-new wine blog. I registered for five days of…
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Review: Emmolo “No. 8” Méthode Traditionnelle California Sparkling Wine (NV)
This year is the 50th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris–the famous 1976 wine competition that humbled French oenophiles and made Napa Valley famous. For months, my wine calendar has been full of “France vs. United States”-themed classes and tastings. The exercise throws you straight into the deep end of the philosophy of winemaking. Can…
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Merlot Thursday: Château La Rose Perrière Lussac Saint-Émilion (2020)
“When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” the saying goes. And when you are a cooper, every wine needs time in a barrel. So it is with Château La Rose Perrière, the Bordeaux estate owned and managed by Jean-Luc Sylvain (of renowned barrel supplier Tonnellerie Sylvain). The Château’s red wines, unusually, are…
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Review: Granbazán “Etiqueta Ámbar” Albariño Rías Baixas (2023)
Albariño from Spain was on the screen and in my glass. I pulled a cold bottle from the wine fridge and settled in for a one-hour Zoom class hosted by New York-based importer Olé & Obrigado. “El Camino del Albariño” is their July-August virtual education and promotional tour. It’s an invitation to wine pros to…
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A year of Merlot Thursday: What I learned from tasting 52 different Merlots
Looking back at The Wine Fairy archive this week, I realized something neat: July is my one-year anniversary of Merlot Thursday participation. I first learned about #MerlotThursday while scrolling wine-related posts on Reddit. The premise is simple enough: On Thursday, you drink a Merlot and review it, in hopes of raising the profile of an…