The Chronicle
Latest dispatches
19 results across all types
- news
Tresor Des Sables Tavel 2023 Review – Intense Rose
When it comes to interesting and, dare we say, somewhat robust rose wines, we almost always look towards Tavel in France to enjoy bottles made with the Rosé de Saignée method. This method effectively is bleeding off juice that is macerating on the grape skins as pigmentation is building. So rather than, say, a soft ... Read more
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Benanti Etna Bianco 2023 Review – Classic Sicilian White
When we visited Sicily, we absolutely fell in love with Benanti on the eastern side of Mount Etna. From their entry level wines to premium contrada (single vineyard) sites, we really didn't have a bad pour there at all. So when we buy an everyday drinker from Sicily at home, odds are good we turn ... Read more
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Argyle Pinot Noir 2023 Review – Red Cherry Overload
Every now and again, we like to try large producers, and as far as Oregon production is concerned, Argyle is among the largest with tens of thousands of cases produced every year. Naturally, given that we quite enjoy Oregon Pinot Noir, we thought we'd try Argyle's Pinot Noir on for size and wanted to share ... Read more
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Musee du Vin Ryugan 2024 Review – Delicate Japanese Wine
When we visited Japan in early 2026, I made sure to reserve some luggage room to bring home some unique Japanese varietals. One such grape was Ryugan, often called Zenkoji-shu due to its cultivation near the Zenoji Temple in Nagano. While distinctly different from a similar Japanese white grape, Koshu, which we also tried, they ... Read more
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How to Plan a Madeira Wine Trip – Tips and Advice
As far as fortified wines are concerned, Madeira is one of our absolute favorites and it all comes from one tiny little island off of the coast of Morocco with the same name. After visiting Madeira ourselves, and trying most of the wineries on the island, we have to be a little blunt- if you ... Read more
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Heron Hill Reserve Merlot 2016 Review – Showing Its Age
One of the joys of having a robust wine cellar at home is you can start to forget about bottles you've purchased. Sometimes this is on purpose to let bottles age. Other times it is simply because you have too much wine and opt to wait for a perfect pairing to come along. For us, ... Read more
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Muros de Melgaco Alvarinho 2024 Review – Growing Intensity
During our many travels in Portugal, we have fallen in love with numerous local grapes. So much so that Portugal is quickly becoming one of our favorite wine producing countries out there. As such, we naturally had to try some higher end Alvarinho when we were in the country, and picked up a bottle of ... Read more
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Chateau Musar 1998 Rouge Review – Our Origin Wine
For those who are seriously into wine, we can hazard a guess you likely remember the exact bottle that made you stop and go “wow, wine can taste this good?!” For us, we can remember it like it was yesterday. We were trying some premium pours at Wine Bar George and it was suggested to ... Read more
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Where to Stay in Madeira for Wine Tasting
Oh, Madeira- you are such a cool island. Out of all of the places we've been to, Madeira is among the most magical. From stellar views, great food, to incredible wine, and more, there really is a lot to love about this island. So if you are planning a visit, particularly to go wine tasting, ... Read more
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7 Port Wine Houses to Visit in Vila Nova di Gaia
I've been fortunate to visit Porto several times now, and every time we visit, we always make it our mission to check out some of the best Port wine houses in Vila Nova di Gaia- just opposite Porto across the Douro River. Although wine is (typically) not made in Vila Nova di Gaia, its history ... Read more
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5 Madeira Wineries to Visit for Fortified Wine Tasting
When we booked our trip to Madeira, we knew that visiting the island's acclaimed wineries for the famous fortified wine of the same name was a high on our list. While we did not get to visit every winery on the island, we did our best and hit five of the top fortified wine producers ... Read more
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Fundacao Oriente Colares Ramisco 2013 Review – Rare Red
If you're on the quest to try rare grapes and happen to find yourself in Portugal, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle of Ramisco from the Colares region. This rare Portuguese grape is only grown in Colares, and is an interesting spot as it is located near the ocean in sandy, phylloxera-free ... Read more
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Vinarium Hungaricum Nectar of Tokaj Eszencia 1993 Review
There are a few bottles of wine out there that are unicorns for us. Not just because we haven't tried them yet, but also because we've never found them anywhere to begin with. This goes beyond bottles that are uber prestigious, like a Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes which we can find somewhat regularly but just haven't ... Read more
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Chateau Doisy Dubroca Sauternes-Barsac 1975 Review – Vibrant
It's not every day you can crack open a 1975 Sauternes-Barsac. Truth be told, we have never had one this old before. But after finding this one tucked away at a bottle shop we frequent for a rather reasonable price, we decided to give it a go. Before even opening this one, we noticed something ... Read more
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Filipa Pato 3B Rose Brut Nature Review – Fruity Sparkling Rose
We've been enjoying wines from Filipa Pato for quite some time now, and have had our eyes on the 3B sparkling rose brut nature as one to try. This one is quite the interesting bottle, and, for those curious, the 3B element stands for the grapes, Baga and Bical, as well as the origin- Bairrada! ... Read more
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Pierre Paillard Bouzy Grand Cru Les Parcelles XXI Review
After returning home from our trip to Champagne, we, naturally, started buying more Champagne. This wasn't so much because we didn't buy a lot while there (we did), but rather that many top producers were readily available to us at home- often not for much more than we could buy them in France. So we ... Read more
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Lindely Vingard H..Vid 2023 Review – Crisp Danish White
During our trip to Denmark, we knew we had to pick up some Danish wines to bring home. Now, you may be thinking, isn't that quite far north for wine production? The answer is yes, Denmark very much is in the extreme in terms of climate, especially as far as grapes are concerned. But recently, ... Read more
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Building a Retirement Wine Cellar – Funding Our 4-0-Wine-K
As part of building our wine cellar, we are collecting wines to enjoy in retirement. We don't know when retirement will come for us, but when that happens, we want to have some nice wine waiting for us when we get there. This led me to joke about buying retirement wines for my, ahem, 4-0-Wine-K, ... Read more
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Rodaro Schioppettino Romain 2016 Review – Dried Fruit Notes
When out at a local wine shop, we stumbled upon a bottle of Rodaro's Schioppettino and, given that it was a new grape for us, we naturally scooped it up right away. But as this one is made with grapes that were allowed to raisinate, and clocked in at a robust 15% ABV, we never ... Read more