ShareA bottle of 2001 Cornas from August Clape got me wondering recently about a thing called bottle variation. You see, the Cornas was a show stopper. My notes read: “Mouth-watering aromas of green olives and black fruit. A huge syrah, rich, maybe a little monolithic, but with loads of ripe plum and distinct olive and [...]

ShareDear Wine Girl:
I am not a big Champagne fan but your post did get the tastebuds tingling. Can’t wait to try the new Champagne if it ever makes its way over to the UK.
Glasgow Sally
Thanks for visiting Wine Girl, all the way from Glasgow.
I have never before met a British person, even via email, who [...]

ShareOne of my favorite California reds is a blend called Generations. It’s the flagship wine from Charles Krug, better known for making jug wine since the forties and ejecting Robert Mondavi in the sixties after he had a fist fight with his brother and co-owner. (Peter Mondavi, the recipient of the left hook, still runs [...]

ShareDear Wine Girl:
I’m going to Bandol, France in July and looking for tips on visiting the friendlier wineries. Also, do all of them offer tastings and is it a walk-up-and-pay setup?
Thank you,
Bound for Bandol
Dear Bound:
Wine tasting in the south of France is one of my favorite life memories. In 2002, we spent three days tasting [...]

ShareDear Wine Girl:
What’s a Super Tuscan? How would I spot it at a wine store or on a wine list? And if I’m in a restaurant with a lot of Italian offerings I’m not familiar with, would I be safe to just go with a Super Tuscan?
–Super Italo-Curious
Dear SIC:
Fast and loose answer: a high-quality red [...]

ShareDear Wine Girl:
I hosted a holiday dinner party recently and one of my guests brought a very special bottle from his cellar: a 1986 Château Margaux, in fact, which he’d bought upon release way back when. I was so honored — and so flustered — by his generosity that when we decanted the bottle and [...]

ShareDear Wine Girl:
I am going to Calistoga in Napa Valley with a friend at the end of the month. We are going to taste white wines because neither of us knows anything about them. We are staying at Solage on the Silverado Trail, and I was wondering if you had any good ideas for whites [...]

ShareDear Wine Girl:
Thank you for bringing that rosé wine as a housewarming gift. You told us not to save it, but to enjoy it young and fresh, so we did. We had a friend visiting who is an aficionado and he was really blown away. You told us it a special bottle and that it [...]

ShareDear Wine Girl:
I have a big dinner meeting soon and I was hoping to bring something special. What would you think about a 1970 Lynch Bages? (Here are the tasting notes from the retailer I was thinking of buying the bottle from. It’s $299.) If I brought that to dinner would you be sufficiently impressed?
Signed,
Only [...]