Think New Zealand. Marlborough. Wine. Likely, images of Kim Crawford come to mind, and their ever popular, fruit forward Sauvignon Blanc.

However, that’s changing. More New Zealand wines are making their way into the hands of eager North American ...

A few months back I wrote about the ‘07 Artesa Chardonnay (91 pts, $20) which is a nice white, great bang for the buck. At the time, while enjoying a tasting flight in Artesa’s scenic, glassy ...

I’m really liking the “unoaked” Chardonnay trend. There is almost nothing worse than a buttery, almost oily, creamy Chard, especially served too warm. The main reason is another of the wine words: structure. Less oak, to me at ...

Here’s a good value wine you can most likely buy right now at your local Costco for about $10. But it delivers at least twice that in laid back flavor. This Chilean wine from Santa Ema, as the ...

This Chardonnay is one of my two favorites Artesa wines. The other is their Pinot, just the regular non-reserve one (classic tier). At a recent tasting Loni and I both agreed that these were the standouts, especially at ...

St. Francis in Sonoma produces some of my favorite wines (Cabs and Chards). At 330,000 cases per year, they are a large operation, yet they’ve still been able to maintain the craftsman quality often found ...

I had the opportunity to taste the current releases from Chateau St. Jean winery in Sonoma. My absolute favorite, among several standouts, was this Chardonnay. Wow. If you are looking for a representative of this so-called new style ...

Cherry. Bargain.

That’s the two word summary for this Merlot. I’d score higher if it weren’t for just a tad too much cherry. It eases off after about an hour or two of breathing. And you know, maybe it’s ...

Bordeaux Supérieur? Probablement pas. But, for $7.99, a good try nevertheless.

This is a Trader Joe’s selection, and all things considered is not half bad, especially for the price. Just don’t expect it to live up to its claim ...

Chile is all about hidden value. While Argentina, Portugal and others are getting recent glory and headlines, look to Chile for some wine deals.

Case in point: this ...

Another decent Riesling, this time from Santa Barbara County, Central Coast California. Available at Trader Joe’s for only $6.99, it is priced the same as my perennial favorite value Riesling from Chateau Ste. Michelle. It is drier though, ...

Slightly off the beaten path in Sonoma County, Benziger is a scenic, wooded winery worth the visit. We visited a few years back and came back with plenty of good memories, not the least of which was the ...

If you’ve read my past reviews or wine articles, you’ll probably know I loathe the proverbial glass of herbaceous, flower water. That would be most Sauvignon Blancs. Just my humble opinion. But for me, there is just too ...