Insider's Club Wine Reviews
All of the reviews linked to below can also be accessed from the Wine Search page. Reviews that are exclusive to Insiders Club members will be automatically highlighted.
US Update: Zin, Rhône, Cal Itals
The antidote to cabernet sauvignon and merlot may well be found in this latest U.S. update of 150 wine reviews.
The popularity of syrah continues to grow, to judge by the number of new labels we encounter each time we taste this category. Indeed, this popularity is reviving the fortunes of the phonetically similar petite sirah. The latter has no genetic relationship to syrah but produces rich and fleshy wines that modern winemaking can render quite delicious, and a far cry from some of the tannic monsters that existed a few decades back.
I am also pleased to report plenty of zinfandels that are not a tryting to be port! It seems that there are fewer 17% alcohol by volume monsters than a few years back and maybe winemakers are pulling back from the extremes.
California continues to serve up increasingly good sangioveses and barberas that are frequently less oaky than pioneering efforts. However, Tuscany and Piedmont need not worry about the competition just yet.
-Marc Dornan
Insider's Club Utilities
If you would like to send yourself an email reminder of your Insider's
Club password, click here.
If you would like to change your Insider's Club password, click here.
