The Wine Gift Guy

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Gigondas 2003

This past Friday was our 22nd wedding anniversary and for such a special occasion I selected a 2003 Gigondas from Brotte to enjoy with my wife during a nice, quiet dinner at home. Since the word Gigondas means joy and jubilation in Latin I thought it very appropriate for such a special evening. We […]

Cruz Alta President’s Reserve 2004

I was just recently introduced to some new wines that included the Cruz Alta President’s Reserve 2004. This blend, which includes 85% Malbec, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Syrah was produced by Bedegas Escorihuela Gascon out of Mendoza, Argentina. It is a special limited edition wine from the company president’s personal cellar. […]

Brancott Vineyards Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

With the warm summer months soon to be upon us, there are some wines I enjoy drinking while sitting on the patio and watching the Texas sunset. And one of my favorite pastimes while on the patio is cooking shrimp on the grill. A nice Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand is a fabulous choice […]

Caymus Cabernet 2002

Being in the retail business, especially the wine and liquor industry, makes finding time for Christmas shopping very difficult during the holiday season. It even forces one to sometimes buy the ones he loves a bottle of wine. Such was the case during the Christmas season of 2004. Running out of time […]

Rosemont Estate 2005 Traminer Riesling

Well, Valentine’s Day has come and gone and Ally and I celebrated with one of the best meals we can remember. My day off was Monday and I had to work late Tuesday (I gave my assistant the day off because she was talking around the store like she may get an engagement ring), so […]

2004 The Magnificent Wine Company ‘House Wine’ - Cabernet Sauvignon

I couldn’t find a lot online about this wine but it seems popular at my store, well, at least I noticed it this week. We sell it in the $12 range, so it’s affordable but not cheap. I was able to find one review at The Wine Cask Blog for the 2003 vintage:

Fragrant nose
Strawberry and […]

La Vieille Ferme 2004 Cotes Du Ventoux Rouge

With dinner tonight we had a bottle of La Vieille Ferme 2004 Cotes Du Ventoux. I really liked this wine. It’s been a while since I bought it, and I feel sure I only paid $4.99 or so but when I looked it up at www.Wine.com it was $7.99, maybe I’m wrong, maybe it was […]

Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante

Since I mentioned Asti Spumante in the last post, I thought I’d recommend an Asti for you and that’s Martini & Rossi Asti Spumante. Personally, I don’t drink much Asti, it’s a bit too sweet for me but Valentine’s Day being a day for your “sweetest”, I thought it appropriate.

I searched around for reviews starting […]

Terra Valentine 2001 Wurtele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

With Valentine’s Day arriving week after next, I’m choosing wines that help enhance the spirit of the celebration. Over the next week or so you’ll find reviews on deep red wines, the color of love, and pink roses that bring out the light-hearted nature of the day. There’ll be champagnes in honor of celebrations and […]

Concha Y Toro Casillero Del Diablo Carmenere 2004

I actually did drink this wine with dinner the other night. We had pasta that Ally threw together (it was good though!) and a salad. I’ve always loved Concha Y Toro wines, they are good and very well priced. This one in particular is $7-$8.

I didn’t really make any notes when we were drinking this […]

Rowland Cellars Wine

The other day I had the pleasure of having Gerald Rowland stop by so I could taste his wines. Gerald Rowland is the owner and winemaker for Rowland Cellars, Napa Valley. Rowland Cellars produces wines under the labels Rowland, Ramspeck and Cenay (sen-AY).

I have distributors come in the store quite often to do tastings but […]

2002 Red Wine St. Francis Winery

According to a test done at the University of California, Davis, the taste of cheese dulls the palate so that many of the flavors in wine cannot be tasted.

According to the results of tests conducted at the University of California, Davis, cheese dulls the taste of red wine, making it difficult to discern different flavours.

Dr […]

Crush Pad - Make Your Own Cult Wine

I was just reading through my website and noticed an ad in the left column that came up on the Google ads, it’s not there any longer, so I can’t quote verbatim, but it said something like, “Make your own cult wine”. It gave the URL, so I went there (not clicking on the ad, […]

Alamos Chardonnay 2004

The other night Ally and I enjoyed a nice bottle of chardonnay, Alamos Chardonnay 2004. This is a Nicolás Catena wine, which is located in Mendoza, Argentina. This area’s most distingushing characteristic is the high altitude of the Andean foothills. The best wine growing areas range between 3000 ft and 5000 ft above sea level. […]

Renwood Zinfandel 2002 Sierra Series

Oh my goodness, what a beautiful picture. This is the picture that Wine.com uses in their section of the website that describes the Renwood Winery. Apparently it’s in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Beautiful part of the country, wouldn’t you say?

Ally and I tried this wine Saturaday night with our “traditional” steak dinner. […]

Vina Antigua Sangiovese Bonarda 2004

The other night I had to work the late shift at the store so Ally just threw in a California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza when I got home. I don’t know how she waits for me, I don’t get home until 10 p.m., most of the time she doesn’t. But that night she did, those […]

WBW #17 - Red Kiwi - Zenith Vineyards Pinot Noir 2003

Well, it’s time for me to write about my red kiwi for Wine Blogging Wednesday #17. I’ve been putting this off, I’m really quite nervous about the whole thing. Please understand, I love wine, I’ve worked in the wine industry for years and I’ve attended probably hundreds of wine tastings, but I’ve never had to […]

Jewel Collection Viognier 2004

Last night I finally got Ally to eat some fish with me. I purchased a chunk of salmon and really wanted to grill it. You see the night before (New Year’s Eve) we went out with friends to a super good seafood restaurant, a regionally popular restaurant that has a cajun flair, and Ally ordered […]

Madonna Wine

Where was I when the Rolling Stones introduced their wine? Apparently uninterested. But today I find that now Madonna has introduced her new wine to commemorate her latest album “Confessions On A Dance Floor”? The new wine will ship after January 12th.

Yes, folks, we’ve now we’ve seen it all. A company called Celebrity Cellars based […]

Cristalino Cava Brut Vintage 2002

It’s that time of year when most people who do not drink champagne venture out and have a glass to celebrate the season. So I thought it appropriate to tell you about the sparkling wine we had on Christmas day.

We had a houseful of people over, yes some were family but not of the variety […]

Cool Fish Chardonnay 2003

I saw this wine on another blog and it intrigued me. The post was at a blog called “The Weakly Wino and the picture the author used looked like the fish were swimming in the wine, it really looked cool to me ~ […]

Mount Veeder 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon

Recommended Wine Gift: Mount Veeder 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon

As promised, I’m back to tell you a little about the wine we drank with our Thanksgiving dinner. Mind you, we didn’t have the “normal” Thankgiving foods. Both our girls are pretty much grown up, one is 26 years old and the other is 18 and getting ready […]