Drinkhacker

MAY 26, 2024

2021 Dobbes Family Estate Chardonnay Grand Assemblage Willamette Valley – A cracking chardonnay, this wine has just the right amount of creamy vanilla and coconut to provide the backbone for a rush of lemon curd, Granny Smith apples, and a pinch of cinnamon that add loads of acidity to the mix.

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Wine 115

Drinkhacker

JULY 24, 2024

Though its a budget-priced bottling, the wine pours on layers of dark, black fruit, layered with spices and a late-game apple skin quality that evokes memories of mulled wine. A- / $30 The post Review: 2021 Booker Wines Harvey & Harriet appeared first on Drinkhacker: The Insider's Guide to Good Drinking.

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Wine Bottling 111

VinePair

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

The sky is falling , or at least that’s the sense one gets when reading wine industry news over the past year. Every morning, my email inbox cues up yet another dirge of reports on grape gluts , government bailouts , bankruptcies , and generational reckonings for wine and alcohol in general. Charles Smith Wines is an iconic brand.

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Wine Bitters Beer Alcohol 129

Imbibe Magazine

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

For Jorge Riera , the headline-making, French-heavy wine lists he created for New York City’s Frenchette aren’t especially new—for him. To Jon Bonné, managing editor of Resy and author of The New French Wine (Ten Speed Press, 2023), the return of France as a dominant news peg in the wine world feels a little like a homecoming.

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Wine Bar Sommelier Inventory 279

Drinkhacker

DECEMBER 28, 2023

Baldacci Family Vineyards has embraced the world of Tubes with this Discovery Collection ($60) of three of its wines. The $60 set includes 100ml samples of three wines Los Carneros Chardonnay, Los Carneros Pinot Noir, and Fraternity Red Blend, all from the 2021 vintage. A bit over the top, all around.

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Wine Bottling 111

Drinkhacker

MAY 10, 2024

2021 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley – The 2020 vintage featured a blend that was 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc. The wine is very well-structured on the palate, delivering additional notes of vanilla and mocha to cut through and add even more complexity without becoming too jammy or chaotic.

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Wine Bottling 105

Australian Bartender

JANUARY 27, 2025

The underground wine bar is located beneath the Palazzo Salato on Kent Street. The venue offers an ever-changing wine list, catering not only to wine lovers but also to food enthusiasts. The venue offers an ever-changing wine list, catering not only to wine lovers but also to food enthusiasts.

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Bar Wine Sommelier Bar Manager 84

Drinkhacker

AUGUST 4, 2024

We got a little backwards in our review of Beringer’s chardonnay: Rob already covered the 2022 expression of this wine. Now we’re turning around and looking at the 2021, which you should still be able to find on the market alongside the 2022.

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Wine 111

Drinkhacker

JUNE 10, 2024

Tornatore’s Pietrarizzo Etna Bianco is not the same thing as this wine , which is bottled only under its DOC identification of Etna Bianco. Details are a little hard to suss out, this being a Sicilian wine and all — even though the brand is now owned by the American Gallo empire.

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Wine Bottling 115

Imbibe Magazine

FEBRUARY 7, 2025

The delight found in opening an unexpected bottle of wine is right up there with stumbling across a sunsetsheer ephemeral joy. And so it was when I popped the cork on the Johan Vineyards Savagnin, a wine I knew nothing about and immediately, thoroughly, enjoyed. In 2021, Johan released their first Savagnin varietal.

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Wine Bottling Beer 134

Chilled Magazine

JANUARY 22, 2025

Fournier has competed in prestigious events such as Heaven Hills Bartender of the Year and the Remy Martin Sidecar Competition and was named Diageo World Class US Bartender of the Year in 2021, placing in the Global Top 5. The cocktail menu at Spago is inspired by the kitchen and the restaurant’s award-winning wine program.

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Bartender Bartending Infusions Gin 241

Drinkhacker

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

This is our first time out with Lovatelli, a producer of both barbera and primitivo wines. This 2021 release is a pretty, clean, and approachable barbera, heavy on the nose with its notes of rosemary and white pepper. Slightly flabby, the wine would benefit from a boost of acidity.

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Wine 114

Drinkhacker

MAY 6, 2024

Attems is a winery in Italy’s Friuli-Venezia region with a particular focus on white wines, plus the occasional rose. Today we look at a pair of recently released whites, both from the 2021 vintage. Seafood, too.) Enduring notes of white blossoms on the finish evoke springtime and fresh linens. A / $24 attems.it

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Wine 111

Drinkhacker

JUNE 18, 2024

Two wines from Etude, which crafts bottlings from all over California — but particularly Napa Valley. 2021 Etude Pinot Gris Carneros – Etude’s pinot gris invariably offers a floral-heavy, slightly austere experience, and this 2021 bottling is no exception.

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Wine Bottling 116

Imbibe Magazine

JUNE 11, 2024

When the team behind Oxalis , a Michelin-starred restaurant in Brooklyn, opened Clinton Hill wine bar Place des Fêtes in 2022, beverage director Piper Kristensen knew exactly what he didn’t want to do: re-create the same-old, same-old bistronomy-style French-heavy list. Spanish wine—even great Spanish wine—isn’t new to stateside customers.

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Wine Bar Sommelier Club 203

Drinkhacker

MAY 13, 2024

Before bottling, the wine was aged for nine months in French Oak. Trying the wine, I found it surprisingly assertive for a Pinot. The wine has high acidity providing much needed structure that keeps the fruit in check, and its gentle tannins provide a good mouthfeel. I might have guessed this was a Syrah if I tasted it blind.

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Wine Bottling 116

Drinkhacker

AUGUST 12, 2024

His 2021 cab-heavy blend is composed of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Petit Verdot, and 6% Cabernet Franc — a heady recipe, to be sure. The wine is aged in new French oak for 18 months before bottling. The Chris in question is Chris Kenefick, the winemaker at Kenefick Ranch. Let’s give it a try.

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Wine Bottling 110

Drinkhacker

DECEMBER 17, 2023

This pair is from the winery’s Sonoma Coast operations and both represent some of the bet value wines Chalk Hill sells. Give the wine a little time to settle down and thing coalesce a bit, though I would more foundationally suggest upgrading to one of Chalk Hill’s single vineyard releases.

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Drinkhacker

JUNE 9, 2024

While Daou ‘s lineup is increasingly ubiquitous (we just bought a half bottle of Daou Chardonnay on a recent no-frills Allegiant Airlines flight), it’s still cranking out ultra high-end wines at the top end. Soul of a Lion is its most luxe offering, and we recently sampled the new 2021 vintage release.

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Wine Bottling 116

Drinkhacker

MARCH 20, 2024

The palate is a bit different: mocha with lovely milk chocolate and cherry cola, and the wine has a big, heavy, enjoyable mouthfeel. It is entirely hidden beneath the fruit, which makes the wine dangerous and dangerously drinkable. Some of this weight is due to the high alcohol content, clocking in again at a brazen 15.9%

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Wine Alcohol 116

Drinkhacker

AUGUST 28, 2024

With the 2021 Trilogy, the first wines from this transition have now arrived. The skeptic in me assumed there was a healthy amount of viognier in this wine, it’s so flowery and heady, but apparently that’s not the case. Very little here telegraphs sauvignon blanc to me. Never heavy in the slightest — at 14.2%

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Wine Bitters 111

Drinkhacker

JULY 15, 2024

Jermann’s wines are Italian, not German, though I can understand the confusion: Even the font the company uses is Germanesque in design. Today we analyze two white wines from this Venezia-based winery, which you’ll find just miles away from Italy’s border with Slovenia. Thoughts follow. Thoughts follow.

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Bitters Wine 111

Drinkhacker

SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

Tenuta Perano’s Chianti Classico is a wine we’ve covered in numerous incarnations — including this (standard) version and the Riserva bottling. A- / $28 / frescobaldi.com The post Review: 2021 Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico DOCG appeared first on Drinkhacker: The Insider's Guide to Good Drinking.

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Wine Bottling 110

Drinkhacker

MAY 31, 2024

Check out Waypoint, from the Russian River Valley, which produces this wine from Wente clone grapes grown in an iconic single vineyard in the region and ages it for 18 months in 62% new French oak. The late-game finish evokes notes of French toast, light on the syrup.

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Wine 116

Drinkhacker

APRIL 11, 2025

If you’ve ever been to the Biltmore (the historic home of the Vanderbilts) in Asheville, North Carolina, you know about the insane winemaking — and wine-tasting — operation there. The wines… perhaps not so much. Recently we received three Biltmore-produced wines to review. The operation is amazing.

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Wine Bottling 61

Drinkhacker

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Etude has earned its reputation for making excellent pinot noirs and we’ve enjoyed them in the past , so it is a pleasure to pour the newly released 2021 vintage of their Carneros Pinot Noir. This wine really shows the brand’s character. I’m a fan.

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Wine 113

Imbibe Magazine

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

Quest also recently opened a cocktail bar in Abidjan called BISSA , which features African spirits and wines, indigenous ingredients, and seasonal vegetation. Ankrah, who passed away in 2021, was a longtime colleague and friend of festival co-founder Asare-Appiah.

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Bar Bartender Bartending Cocktail Culture 255

Drinkhacker

SEPTEMBER 22, 2024

Two new releases from Sonoma-based Three Sticks, both pinot noirs from the 2021 vintage — and both very different. B+ / $95 2021 Three Sticks Pinot Noir Sonoma Mountain One Sky Vineyard – The first vineyard-designated release from One Sky. Consider aging for a few years.

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Wine Bottling 111

Drinkhacker

MARCH 7, 2024

Herdade Do Esporao wines bring only positive words to the Portuguese wine conversation: they are sturdy ambassadors staying within the realm of affordability and are consistent in quality. We review the vineyard’s offerings at a near-annual rate, and today we return to enjoy its two flagship red and white offerings.

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Wine Bottling 116

Drinkhacker

AUGUST 25, 2024

Not to be confused with Beaulieu Vineyard’s other wine named Tapestry (a longtime favorite from the brand), the new Tapestry is also made by a winery owned by BV… though it doesn’t carry their name anywhere on the label. It’s a dense and somewhat brooding wine on the whole, but agreeable at this price.

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Wine 105

VinePair

APRIL 30, 2025

The wines of Sicily are well known, from the Nero dAvolas and Etna Rossos and Biancos , to the white Grillos and Catarrattos. But the wines of Sardinia, the second-largest Italian island in the Mediterranean, remain relatively obscure. The grapes are grown organically in granitic soils, and the wine shows fresh acidity.

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Wine Bottling 65

Drinkhacker

SEPTEMBER 7, 2024

Papapietro Perry doesn’t just have one of the liveliest company names in Sonoma, it also makes some of its best, under-the-radar wines. 2024’s releases include these two wines, both from the Russian River Valley which Pappietro Perry calls home. A spicy Korean-style burger did the trick for me.

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Wine 115

Drinkhacker

AUGUST 27, 2024

So, interesting story behind this wine. The wine is a 100% cabernet sauvignon “sourced from two adjacent vineyards in the heart of the Rutherford AVA in the distinctive soil composition of the valley floor. The tannin has been whipped out of this relatively young wine in short order: It’s ready to drink now.

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Wine 111

Drinkhacker

JULY 14, 2024

Two wines from Argiano, a historic winery in Tuscany’s Montalcino area that dates back to 1580 (as an olive oil producer) and which is, more recently, the first company in the area to become plastic-free. Graphite and anise provide an ample mineral-earthy quality, while the finish of brewed black tea pours on herbaceous notes.

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Wine Bitters 105

Drinkhacker

MARCH 2, 2024

We are returning to the wines of Bryn Mawr in the Willamette Valley, Oregon to sample two recent releases we haven’t tried before: a brut rosé and a Dolcetto. For different reasons, both are rather unusual wines. This sparkling wine is not made using secondary fermentation. B / $35 2021 Bryn Mawr Dolcetto Estate – 100% Dolcetto.

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Wine Infusions Bottling 112

Drinkhacker

FEBRUARY 24, 2024

This Israeli wine keeps its eye on France, offering a definitively Bordelais style wine made from a blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon, 30% merlot, 5% cabernet franc, and 3% petit verdot. A light oakiness gives the finish a savory bent, chewy and mildly tannic with a brambly quality clinging to the experience. Aka Bin Nun, Bin nun.

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Wine 114

Drinkhacker

JUNE 5, 2024

Closing in on a quarter-century of existence, the La Posta program continues to partner with single-grower, single-vineyard wines otherwise lacking in scale or logistics to reach a wider audience and a reasonable price point. The violet note makes a return on the finish, where additional hints of baking spice and dark chocolate also emerge.

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Wine 111