Travel & Tasting Notes From A Couple of Wine Lovers
Rosé wines get a bad rap. Damned with faint praise as a “great summer sipper” and showcased by wine shops from June thru September, rosé wine is lumped in with pop top wine spritzers and sweet, beach-ready whites. I think rosé still suffers from the dreaded “blush” wine craze of the 1980’s—remember ‘White Zinfandel’?—and from… Continue reading Some Napa Cab Lovers Walk into a Rosato Tasting
Our last wine journey to Italy was in the year 2018 BC (Before Covid). We spent a very happy week visiting wineries in Puglia, taking a deep dive into lesser-known [to us] red grapes like Aglianico, Susumaniello, and Negroamara and the white grapes Verdeca and Fiano. So, when the Commonwealth Wine School announced a 90-minute… Continue reading Italian Wines off the Beaten Path
Yes, 2020 sucked. And yes, we can't wait to say good riddance. But before we toss 2020 in the dumpster, pour a gallon of hand sanitizer on it and set it on fire, let's at least reflect on the good things about the year. Like, the best red wines we tasted, from Napa to Washington,… Continue reading Top Red Wines of 2020
Tomorrow night we may be popping Champagne corks or drowning ourselves in Tequila, depending on the success of the Biden/Harris ticket. But last night, it was Chianti all around, paired with Rao pasta and Gary's homemade Bolognese sauce. He's been tinkering with this classic meat sauce ever since we returned from Puglia, where a Tuna… Continue reading Volpaia’s 2015 Chianti Classico Lives Up to Star Ratings
Altopiano Terre di Chieti Rosato, Feudo Antico 2017 $8/bottle In previous posts I've raved about Italian rosés crafted from Nebbiolo, Negroamaro, and Sangiovese red wine grapes. These Italian rosato wines aren't light summer sippers with adorable labels and soda pop flavors. The wines I favor have structure and substance while also feeling a little like… Continue reading Another Stellar Italian Rosato
Aglianico. Huh? Yeah it's a grape from Southern Italy used in making serious red wines. Serious, like Napa Cabenet serious? Yep. If you don't believe me, read on. Per Wikipedia, "Aglianico is a black grape grown in the southern regions of Italy. It is considered with Sangiovese and Nebbiolo to be one of the three… Continue reading Aglianico You Need to Know
We wrote our last blog post on the cusp of 2020, praising the whites and rosés from the Basque region and considering a visit to this Northern Spain region. What a difference six months makes. We're not traveling to any wine paradise, at least for the foreseeable future. Between Covid-19, the economy and the nightmare… Continue reading First Post of 2020 – How’s the Year going for You?
We know Spanish wines...a little bit. Rioja, of course. Priorat for sure. And we've dabbled a bit in Sherry from Jerez. But the Basque region? Nowhere on our radar until last summer, when I savored fresh and fizzy glasses of Txakolina (cha’-kō-lee-nah) rosé at two of Boston's hipster restaurants, Chickadee and Pagu. Txakolina is a… Continue reading Uncovering the Basque Wine Region
In our line of work/play, you taste a lot of wine. Some you sip and instantly spit. Some you sip, swirl, and then spit. Then there are those you savor, drink fully, and remember. These are the wines we've compiled into our favorite wines of the year list. Most are reasonably priced. Some are cheap.… Continue reading VinoDuo’s Favorite Wines of 2019
Gary loves Napa Cabs. Our dear friends also love Napa Cabs. Lisa? Not so much. But she was game for organizing a blind tasting of 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. This was a proper horizontal tasting with three bottles of 2014 Napa Cab Sauv and one 2014 Sonoma ringer. The tasters were six knowledgeable… Continue reading A Tale of Four Cabs: Napa 2014 Blind Tasting
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