Bread and Butter Chardonnay

Helloooooo, Bread and Butter! Finally, an oaked Chardonnay that isn't overly oaky! What an appropriate name for this Napa Chardonnay... It's smooth, exceptionally creamy, with notes of pineapple, vanilla, and even a bit of toasted coconut. Excellent mouthfeel, low acidity, and medium body. It's a wee bit "one-note"—not super complex—but for $12, it's a great wine for the money....

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2014 Ponzi Vineyards Tavola Pinot Noir

Ponzi Vineyards has produced a very food-friendly wine with their Tavola Pinot. "Tavola" is the Italian word for table, which was the inspiration for this wine. We were a bit skeptic at first, thinking we'd be opening any old "table wine," as its name would indicate. Boy, were we wrong!This Pinot is complex, yet super easy to pair with food. We got some plum, forest floor, and very subtle oak notes, with a long lasting finish. Pair with dinner...

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2014 Ponzi Vineyard Pinot Gris

Whether it's seafood, a warm summer's day, or just something delicious to sip on a weeknight, this Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley, Oregon is truly awesome. We get that crisp minerality, with tart granny-smith apples, bringing that nice pucker and tingling in your jaw. This is an exceptional effort by Ponzi Vineyards, who also makes a great Pinot Noir. Ponzi specializes in cool-climate wines and sources all their grapes from their certified...

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2013 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Sauvignon Blanc

So, we came across some videos Robert Mondavi released that caught our attention! For those of you who like Will Ferrell's humor, you might find them pretty darn funny. RM came out with these videos to poke fun at the sometimes pretentious world of wine. If you're like us, you just want to kick back and enjoy some great vino, not like some of the wine-o snobbery that you occasionally see. These videos are on YouTube and here are a few of our...

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2011 Cranetown Chardonnay

This Napa Valley Chardonnay's aromas remind us of pears and crisp apple. It's got great acidity (that back of your jaw zinging type!), with a long lasting flavor of pear and a touch of mineral. We found it to be fairly smooth and well balanced. This chardonnay isn't very complex, but at this price-point, it's definitely a keeper. Body: Medium Approx. Cost: $14 Food Pairing: Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta This wine can be typically found and...

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2011 Noble Vines Red Blend

Great aromas of blackberries and oak fill the glass, making for a very inviting swirl! Flavor profile offers blackberries, plums and finishes off with a toasted oak and vanilla. There is a hint of spice that adds to it's complexity. It's smooth, slightly dry, and has a good balance of flavor. A typical red blend, but it is better than most. We would definitely recommend you to give this one a t...

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2012 Santa Ema Cabernet Sauvignon

Holy moly. QPR alert! Black fruit and spice on the nose make a really nice beginning while swirling in the glass. We get blackberries, green pepper, and toasted cedar for flavor. It's not all that complex, but great for an every day wine. It is dry with a great mouthfeel, and a long lasting finish. This will pair well with grilled pork chops. We were super surprised to find out it was only about $8. EXCELLENT buy! We got ours from Wine Chateau here: Wine...

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Finger Lakes: Dessert Wines

We had the pleasure of being part of Finger Lakes Wine Alliance's virtual tasting recently, and that may have been one of the best ones yet! This time, they featured some of the Finger Lakes region's finest wineries with their sparkling and dessert wines. We have experienced such wonderful wines from this cool-climate wine country—it's a gold mine for mouth watering Rieslings and some deliciously interesting dessert wines. Here are the wines for...

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2010 Arnaldo Caprai Montefalco Rosso

This is a Sangiovese of Montefalco located in Umbria, Italy. We found aromas of toasted cedar and black fruits and tasted vanilla along with some more of that cedar. Ripe blackberries dominate the flavor profile with a little black pepper for spice. The balance is wonderful—a perfect balance of significant body and gripping tannins. The finish is long and enjoyable. The alcohol content is on the higher end (14.5%) and is on the verge of alcohol forward,...

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2011 Vitivinos Azua Bobal Roble

The nose on this Spanish red is wonderful, displaying some deep ripe blackberry notes with some toasted oak. The grape is called Bobal, something we've never tried before! We get the same blackberry flavor along with a little tobacco on the back end. The tannins are just right—smooth, but with a firm grip. This red is medium to full in body, with a long lasting finish. It's a touch alcohol-forward, even after a couple days of being opened. That...

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Capabunga Wine Bottle Caps

We came across these neat little wine caps recently and discovered they're pretty different than most wine stoppers you'll see. The Capabunga wine cap is a simple, yet well performing, solution to storing your wine once opened. What Are They? Capabunga caps are reusable silicone wine caps for storing your wine between pours. Some caps feature clever slogans and designs printed on the top, which we found fun! They also offer solid color caps,...

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2008 Di Majo Norante "Ramitello"

Interesting and inviting aromas show leather, bacon, green peppers and currants. Great depth of flavor with licorice and leather followed by some heavy spice. This isn't very fruit forward, but has a little bit of strawberry flavor. Mouthfeel is excellent, dry with great balance and lasting finish. Body: Medium to Full Approx. Cost: $19 Food Pairing: Pasta Bolognese...

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Enza Prosecco

Perfect Valentine's bubbly? This sexy Italian Prosecco sure could do the trick!This wine has great aromas of wet slate and peaches--very refreshing. Flavors of pear, apricot, and honey dominate. Its balance of acidity is just right, but with a slight bit of residual heat from the alcohol. We didn't find that it was extra dry--we would say moderate dryness that would satisfy most palates. Enza Prosecco is a simple, yet tasty glass of bubbles, and...

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2009 X Winery "Red X"

This California blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Zinfandel, and Grenache proves to be a simple, very versatile everyday wine. We got some ripe red fruit and oak on the nose. This led to some super juicy fruit with some smoky vanilla oak flavors. The wine makes up in bold spicy flavor for what it lacks in complexity. It's a super tasty red with great mouthfeel--good balance, just-right tannin, and a long finish. This red blend is bound to be enjoyed...

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Wines of Abruzzo & Le Marche, Italy

We tasted two wines from two wonderful regions, transporting us back on a journey to where they started in Italy. Our first was the Saladini Pilastri "Pregio del Conte", a 50/50 blend of Montepulciano and Aglianico, coming from the Le Marche region of Italy. Le Marche is just East of Tuscany and Umbria. This is a deep ruby wine--pure beauty in a glass--possibly as awesome as the picturesque views of Italy itself. The Pregio del Conte has...

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2009 Domaine des Sénéchaux Châteauneuf-du-Pape

This CdP of Southern Rhone France opened with a nice aroma of cherries and spice. We found that its flavors mirrored the nose and also displayed a heavy vegetal component and a hint of licorice. The spicy red fruit was nice, but found the green pepper was a bit overwhelming. There was a little bit of heat (alcohol) on the back end, which wore off after we let it breathe. We felt the acidity was lacking making for a slightly flat wine. The mouth...

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2010 Greystone Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon

This California Cabernet has a huge amount strawberries on the nose with a hint of vanilla and cedar chips. The strawberries translate to a juicy flavor, almost like jam. We also got generous amounts of dark chocolate and a nice layer of toasted oak. It's a little fruit forward with a little added spice. We felt it was a little flat and one-dimensional, however it is well balanced, has a decent amount of tannin and a long smooth finish. This cab...

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2010 Juana De Sol Malbec Reserva Single Vineyard

Vibrant bright violet in color, this single estate malbec showed us great beauty in the glass. We smelled chocolate and espresso with a little bit of mushroomy moss! We tasted those same coffee flavors along with juicy ripe blackberries. The tannins are chewy and lead to a long finish. We noticed a decent amount of heat upon opening, but luckily that went away after hours of breathing. This is a big bold wine with interesting flavor. It isn't...

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2011 Big House Wines Unchained Chardonnay

Delicate nose of sour apple and pear. We tasted flinty notes of gravel along with juicy pears. The bright acidity on this unoaked Chardonnay finishes beautifully. A little bit of heat on the back-end, but it diminishes quickly when the long finish takes over. It's not particularly complex, but for the price tag you can't go wrong!!Body: light to mediumApprox. Cost: $10Food Pairing: pasta with pesto; roasted chic...

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Ordering Wine by the Glass: You should Enjoy it

If you're like any of us who enjoy wine with our meals, you've probably ordered wine in a restaurant. Usually your table will order a bottle if there are three or four people, but you're more likely to order wine by the glass if it's just one or two of you drinking it. Restaurants have broad ranges of the size of their wine list, from ten to thousands of choices! All of the wines aren't typically available by the glass, leaving a choice of maybe...

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