Vivino App: Needs More Time on the Vine

by | Jun 4, 2016 | Full Article

The Vivino app is amazing for its primary feature: using your cell phone’s camera, you photograph a wine label and Vivino quickly reports back reviews, typical prices and more. It’s indispensable when shopping for wine and confronted with a bevy of bottled...

Uruguay Wins a February Five-Star for 2010 Tannat

by | Feb 12, 2016 | Full Article

The 2010 Narbona Tannat Roble from the Puerto Carmelo region is a knockout wine from Uruguay, and alas, one you are going to have some difficulty finding depending on where you live. There’s really only one word that can describe this wine, and it works equally...

First 5-Star Wine of 2016 is a German Reez

by | Jan 20, 2016 | Full Article

Germany is a beautiful little country, full of pleasant people who never do anything bad, and because of their steadfast anonymity, about whom history has nothing much to say. Thank goodness for their wine, or we might not even know Germany existed! So it’s a...

Winepisser Best Wine of 2015: Apothic Red

by | Jan 14, 2016 | Full Article

The Winepisser is happy to award its first annual Best Wine award to the stellar blend from Modesto California, Apothic Red. The Winepisser Best Wine award is granted to one of the wines reviewed in the previous year, but only of those rated 5 stars by the Winepisser....

Suspiciously Good Chenin Blanc from … Peru?

by | Dec 21, 2015 | Full Article

Peru is not a country known for its honesty in quality control, although it’s much improved than, say, 20 years ago. But it wouldn’t be at all out of place for one of the vineyards of Ica to throw in some apple juice or maple syrup into the vats, bottle it...

Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator

by | Dec 18, 2015 | Full Article

If you’re like me, you have a lot of sweatshops, white slavery rings and brothels to manage all across the globe as part of your international criminal conspiracy, and thus spend a lot of time in hotels, airplanes and brothels. This makes enjoying a properly...

Better Red Than Dead – Apothic 2013

by | Dec 18, 2015 | Full Article

Blends make me nervous. I envision the more romantic ones crafting a mysterious melange of grape, myrrh and the sacrificial blood of volcano virgins, while the lesser ones hobble together some apple juice, craft glue and paper clips. So I’m typically not a fan...