It’s 2019 already?! Farewell, 2018, and your delicious food and drink memories. Attending the Lodi Wine and Chocolate Festival for the first time was one of those memories for me. Obligatory disclaimer: My tickets were comped for the 2018 Lodi Wine and Chocolate festival as a media representative. Tickets are now available to the general
Read more

Borsao 2011 Grenache Borja, Spain   Grenache wines are hit or miss with me. I adore Spanish wines, but Tempranillo has a special place in my heart. Grenache can sometimes be too dry for my palate and not as lively as its Spanish cousin. But when it hits, it’s a memorably layered wine. This is
Read more

Yellowtail Shiraz Grenache 2010 Southeastern Australia Blueberry flavors come first with this wine, but they melt away into something that reminds me of the fig butter I just picked up from Trader Joe’s. But this wine is bitterer than the fig butter and pretty dry. There’s a heat to it, and I’d call it medium
Read more

Cinco Joses Old Vines Grenache 2008 Campo de Borga, Spain [insert picture that I lost in my hard drive failure here. Le sigh.] Do yourself a favor and do NOT read the horrible explanation of who each Joe is on the label. It’s ten seconds I really need back in my life, including an extra
Read more

Terrenal Tempranillo and Garnacha 2009 Carinena, Spain Oh, this is so very thin and unappealing. My word, I haven’t had a wine this uninspired in a while. It tastes metallic, with thin strawberry and fig flavors. There’s a little bit of greenery involved that reminds me of eucalyptus. It’s okay, but there are so many
Read more

Castillo de Monseran Garnacha 2006 Cariñena, Spain The nose of this Spanish wine is full of spiced strawberries. When drinking, the strawberry is joined by raspberry and a helping of twigs from the bushes, giving it a nice, earthy quality. The spice is still there but not as strongly as in the nose. It’s highly
Read more

Zestos Red 2009 Madrid, Spain This 50%  tempranillo and 50% grenache blend is an attractive garnet. The nose is MIA. It tastes tart, like a raspberry jolly rancher but richer in flavor. Some molasses deepens the flavor and thickens its texture to medium-bodied. It’s quite good on reflection.

Marqués de Cáceres Crianza 2006 Cosecha Rioja, Spain Everything I like about Spanish wine is in this glass—spicy, leathery, fruit that is ripe to bursting, cayenne, maybe even a mild curry. The first notes, though, were of chocolate and raspberry.  The chocolate’s mostly from the nose, but it helps mellow the wine, almost giving it
Read more

Other words on the label: Producto de Espana The label displays an abstract, lined portrait on a mustard yellow background. The nose brings me back to my first taste of freeze-dried strawberries at the San Francisco exploratorium when I was young. Astronaut food totally rocks. Paprika also has a presence here. As for the actual
Read more

Red Guitar 2005 Navarra Other words on the label: Denominacien de origen Old Vine Tempranillo Garnacha The label has a warm orange background with dancing stick fingers, one of which plays a red guitar. There’s also a floating bull’s head. You read that right-a floating bull’s head. The wine smells of cinnamon and ancho chile
Read more