Photograph © 2009 George A. Jardine The last Merlot I was crazy about was also a Switchback Ridge; the ’05 vintage. But I was anxious to get my hands on some of this just-released vintage for two reasons. First, the ’07 vintage was almost universally great all over northern California, and the wine was certain [...]

A big mouth-full of fruit. Talk about stumbling on a terrific bargain. I walked into one of my favorite little wine shops the other day, and found a line up of 2007 Helfrich wines from France’s Alsatian region that caught my eye. They have a Gewürztraminer, a dry Riesling, and a Pinot Gris, all for [...]

Berkeley Importer Kermit Lynch strikes again with this stunning white wine from the Coteaux du Languedoc. Chateau de Lascaux immediately hits your palate with a wonderful smokey minerality, followed with strong notes of ripe apricots and apple, and then tapers off gently into a long finish revealing an almost perfect acid balance. The beautiful interplay [...]