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My Favorite Wines Tasted in 2018
When I finally finished the first draft of this exhaustive list of my favorite wines from 2018, I realized I had to cut it back to only those wines that I’d rated 3 stars or I’d have pages and pages, and I knew you only wanted to read about the BEST! (note: this draft...
My First Taste of the Superlative 2017 Vintage
In my last post, I highlighted my favorite tank or barrel samples of the infant 2018 vintage. As Maryland vintner and friend Mike Fiore would say, “Not so bad!” Vintners may have lost up to half of their potential crop, but from what I’ve seen they did a great job...
My First Taste of 2017 and 2018 Virginia Wines
So first, let me take back the complete and total write-off I made of the 2018 vintage in Virginia recently. Nobody will dispute that as far back as we can remember, this vintage was the pits, for the inches of rain and crop loss either due to poor fruit set in May or...
My Recommendations for Thanksgiving Wines
Fun fact: more wine is purchased for consumption at Thanksgiving than at any other day in the year in the U.S. Now that Eastern wines are world-class, and since Thanksgiving was the original locavore feast (on the East Coast), it's only appropriate to drink local wine...
Finger Lakes Tasting Tour #2: The Light, Lovely Wines of the 2017 Vintage
Part 1: Keuka Lake As I explained in my previous blog post, these are notes on my second trip this year to the Finger Lakes of central New York. It gave me a chance to visit wineries I’d missed on my previous trip, and also to taste the early releases of the lovely,...
Michael Shaps Wineworks Purchases Shenandoah Vineyards
Michael Shaps of Michael Shaps Wineworks announced on November 6th, 2018 the purchase of Shenandoah Vineyards, the second oldest active winery in Virginia. Shenandoah Vineyards was founded in 1976 by Jim and Emma Randel, two visionaries who recognized the...