Two weekends ago, I conducted another Blind Tasting at our humble little abode here in Houston, to which I invited other wine writers from the area. This most recent iteration was the eighth annual tasting of American sparkling wines. All of the blind tastings (now 25 in total) have produced some surprises, which is, quite frankly, why tasting blind from time to time is healthy.

Last Saturday, I conducted another Blind Tasting at our humble little abode here in Houston, to which I invited other wine writers from the area. As you may recall, I conducted a tasting of American True Rosés in the Spring, and the second was this Fall when I tasted American Pinot Noirs. All of the blind tastings (now 25 in total) have produced some surprises, which is, quite frankly, why tasting blind from time to time is healthy.

This past weekend, I conducted another Blind Tasting at our humble little abode here in Houston, to which I invited several other local writers to help me go through the 38 bottles of domestic sparkling wine, but when all of them called in sick, I was on my own. All of the blind tastings (now 25 in total--I also conduct blind tastings of American rosé in the Spring and American Pinot Noir in the Fall) have produced some surprises, which is, quite frankly, why tasting blind from time to time is healthy.

This past week, I conducted another Blind Tasting at our humble little abode here in Houston, to which I invited other wine writers from the area. Originally, there were going to be three other writers joining me, then there were two, then one, and finally, on the eve of the tasting, the last writer dropped out, all succumbing to a rather nasty bug going around Houston.

On my visit to Corte Fusia this past summer, I mentioned to co-owner/winemaker Daniele Gentile that I was off to Alba, in the heart of Piedmont, for the next four days. Before asking me anything about my plans (I really had none, but that is beside the point), he stated that if I didn't go anywhere else, I had to visit Bruna Grimaldi in Grinzane Cavour.

As many of you know, I spent the last week in Paris and, as such, I neglected this little site a bit. It's not that I am not grateful for all you faithful readers out there (which have increased rather substantially over the last two years, by the way), I am. But, well, Paris. One of the more "regular" posts that I "forgot" to publish was the link to my weekly column in a (really) local magazine here in Houston, …

Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I have been in Paris for a few days, attending the massive Salon des Vignerons Indépendents. Per usual, while traveling, I like to revisit a Sundays Are For Sebastian. This one comes from three years ago, when Sebastian was fourteen.  Sebastian is our fourteen-year-old son and he says some of the funniest things–we have no idea where he gets his material since his mother and I are rather boring, serious people…

I am in Paris this week for a lot of reasons (yes, many include wine), but I am determined to keep up with this little blog, which has become (if my stats are to be believed), extremely popular over the last couple of years.... Today, I offer up tasting notes of the current releases from (one of?) my favorite producer(s) in Sonoma County, Tongue Dancer Wines.

I am in Paris this week for a lot of reasons (yes, many include wine), but I am determined to keep up with this little blog, which has become (if my stats are to be believed), extremely popular over the last couple of years.... This ia a post from the last time I was in Paris, a little over a year ago (has it really been that long?).

Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).

Like most of you, I imagine, over the last several days my inbox has been flooded with Black Friday deals. From bike bags to restaurant deals, I have received hundreds of Black Friday enticements. As you might expect, many of those emails have been wine-related and this year some of the deals are pretty darned good. So in the spirit of giving, here are a few of those deals from producers I respect and wholeheartedly endorse (click on the graphic to go straight to the deal):

Happy Thanksgiving! Several years ago, my boys and I started a tradition of going down to the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade. We were fortunate enough to live less than a mile from the parade route, which made it that much easier to attend. Now, however, we are about 1,500 miles from the Philadelphia parade, living in Texas. Our older son, Nathan, nowin graduate school, returned home the last night, making this the first time since mid-August that we all have been together.

As I mentioned Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, I tasted 40 American Pinot Noirs a little over a week ago. With the help of three other wine writers here in Houston, I was able to taste through the wines blind, which means that I did not know which wine was ever in my glass (well, my four glasses, as I tasted that many at a time).

As I mentioned Tuesday and Wednesday, earlier this week, I and a group of other Houston-based wine writers, tasted 40 American Pinot Noirs on a Thursday afternoon. The design was to taste through the wines blind, which means that I did not know which wine was ever in my glass (well, my four glasses, as I tasted that many at a time).

As I mentioned Yesterday, I tasted 40 American Pinot Noirs earlier this month. The design was to taste through the wines blind, which means that I did not know which wine was ever in my glass (well, my four glasses, as I tasted that many at a time). Tasting wines blind is always a good exercise as knowing what a wine is can always introduce bias when it comes to evaluation.

A couple of months ago, I set the date for my Eighth Annual Blind Tasting of American Pinot Noir for November 8th. That would give me enough time to clean up my notes and publish them in time for Thanksgiving, essentially the Super Bowl for Pinot Noir (next to champagne, Pinot is perhaps the most versatile of wines for Thanksgiving, able to handle all of those crazy flavors on the Turkey Day table).

Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).

A little over nine (!) years ago, the family and I moved to Texas. As a lifelong Eastern Time Zone resident, it was a big move: changing time zones, living below the Mason-Dixon Line, deciding whether to adopt "y'all" as part of my vocabulary. It was all rather heady. The transition to life in Houston was made easier, however, by several factors.

Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).

It is time for another edition of “Random Samples”–I occasionally get samples from marketing agencies and/or producers. These can often be grouped together into some sort of over-arching theme: Muret-Gaston is French for Old Friends (not really, but it should be), The Rise of Australian Wine Beyond Shiraz, Some Wines from Victoria, If It Doesn’t Sparkle, It Doesn’t Matter…

The calendar turned to November a few days ago (a side note: does anyone use actual calendars anymore?) and that means a couple of things. First, it means that basketball season has started for me. Without getting into the long story, I had a rather distinguished decade-long career as a high school Varsity basketball coach well before Tik-Tok and Instagram were on anyone's mind.

Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).

Sebastian is our seventeen-year-old son, and he says some of the funniest things–we have no idea where he gets his material since his mother and I are rather boring, serious people. For years, I have been trying to get my sons to learn how to cook. Nathan, who is away at grad school in Ohio, laments now that he never took me up on the offer.

A few months ago, I was sent a few wines from Austria to sample. I immediately recalled my only trip to perhaps Austria's most famous wine region, the Wachau Valley (even though none of the wines I received were from that region, but why get bogged down in details?). So, I thought I would republish the story of that fateful day along with the tasting notes of the wines (those are at the bottom of the page if you want to skip over my inane drivel).