Posts tagged: Spotlights

CELIA WELCH, “The World’s Most Influential Woman in Wine”

CELIA WELCH “The World’s Most Influential Woman in Wine”The Drinks Business magazine recently published its list of The World’s Most Influential Women in Wine. Our very own Celia Welch made the number three spot! As a child growing up in Oregon, Celia Welch would sit under a giant oak in her back garden picking grapes […]

Tuesday May 22nd, 2018 in , , | No Comments »

A Visit to the Walter Hansel Bistro

A Frank Melis review: Last week I took my wife and daughters to check out the new Walter Hansel Bistro in the beautiful Russian River Valley.   The restaurant is about 1 mile away from the Walter Hansel Winery and 1 mile from Historic Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, California. The Bistro is a cozy, single […]

Tuesday June 10th, 2014 in , , , | No Comments »

New DuMOL Designated Vineyard Releases!

Time flies, as this is the 16th release of DuMOL.  I remember meeting Kerry Murphy and tasting through the first bottles of what has now turned into a real success story.  The “Designated” bottlings  are always something special, and this year is no difference.  Andy Smith pulled up his sleeves and put together an amazing […]

Tuesday November 12th, 2013 in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Chardonnay Deal of the Month!

Stuart Bewley grew up in California’s central valley, where hard work and farming were a part of life. But his name will be forever tied to the beverage that embodied The Beach.  While in their twenties, Stuart and his high school friend Michael Crete experimented with mixing wine and fruit juices. They ended up inventing […]

Wednesday August 28th, 2013 in , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Score some 94+ Points Pott

Aaron Pott has amassed a nice portfolio over the years and his own label has been on fire as of late.  This latest bottling the HMSS  or “Her Majesty’s Secret Service” comes from the famed Stagecoach Vineyard.  The legend has it that a notorious 19th century Englishman bandit robbed the daily Stagecoach here from St. […]

Wednesday July 25th, 2012 in , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Local boutique stocks hard-to-find wines

We were fortunate enough to be featured in today’s San Francisco Chronicle! Read the full article here… Golden Gate Wine Cellars is a locally owned boutique wine store that carries hundreds of hard-to-find wines from California vineyards. The shop has close to a thousand labels in stock at any given time that are also available […]

Friday July 20th, 2012 in , , , | No Comments »

Small producer slams big name 100 point wines!

In a recent blind tasting of 2008 Cabernets and 2007 Syrahs, Patland vineyards beat out some big name wineries, including some 100 Point wines! In the Syrah tasting the lineup included: Alban Reva (100 Points, $150.00), Guigal Cote Rotie La Landonne (97+ Points $350.00!!), Alban Lorraine (96 Points), ,  Betz Family La Cote Rousse, Araujo […]

Wednesday February 29th, 2012 in , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Small (girl) winery beats up the Big Boys wineries!

Karen Culler has been around for some time now, and her portfolio has been very impressive. Although I think the last blind tasting I conducted might have just elevated her status some more. The Who’s Who of Napa Valley wineries was represented at this tasting. We tasted blind and guessed the price of each wine! […]

Saturday February 11th, 2012 in , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Malk 2008 Cabernet blows away the big names in a blind tasting!

For those who bought the 2007 vintage I can tell you that you will be happily surprised by this latest release. Unfortunately this year’s production is much smaller (only 200 cases produced), but it is just as good. We recently lined up 10 big Napa Valley (expensive and highly rated) Cabernets and the result was […]

Monday January 16th, 2012 in , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Walter Hansel Pinot Noir beats out the big names in a blind tasting! LIMITED – 95 Points!!

I just got my hands on an extremely limited allocation that you definitely want to know about! Walter Hansel is synonymous with good quality wine at a respectable price. This latest bottling is inexpensive for its great quality!  We tasted 10 Pinots, and Hansel Rodgers Creek came in # 1. The lineup consisted of Beaux […]

Wednesday December 7th, 2011 in , , , , , , , | No Comments »