The Grape Pursuit

13/10/2026

We are used to collab beers, but not so much in w**e. Tierce from the Finger Lakes combines Riesling from Fox Run, Anthony Road, and Red Newt for one delightful bottle.

The 2015 vintage has been sleeping away in our cellar for quite some time and it was time to see how this one was after a recent visit to the Finger Lakes.

This collab Riesling was medium gold in color with medium(+) aromas of yellow apple, pear, petrol, grapefruit, geranium, wet stone, creme brulee, and golden raisin.

On the palate, it was dry with medium(+) acidity, body, and flavor intensity plus medium alcohol and finish. We had notes of pear, yellow apple, grapefruit, honeysuckle, wet stone, pineapple, lemon, toast, and white blossom.

We just stocked up on some older vintages at Red Newt and are looking forward to enjoying some seasonal variations in this one in the future!

09/10/2026

Alicante Bouschet is one of our favorite Portuguese grapes, but we have almost exclusively enjoyed it from the quite hot region of Alentejo (one bottle we are aging in our cellar is labeled at 16% abv!).

But when we were last in Portugal, we picked up a bottle from the less-hot Tejo region and it was a completely different expression of the grape. Lighter, more approachable, but still immensely delicious.

This one from Casal das Aires was medium ruby in color with medium aromas of dried red cherry, dried black cherry, cranberry, clove, cedar, leather, violet, and black pepper.

On the palate, it was dry with high acidity, medium alcohol, coarse tannin, body, and finish, plus a medium(+) flavor intensity. We had notes of red cherry, cranberry, blueberry, wet leaves, clove, chalk, wet stone, black pepper, blackberry, and some light cacao notes, too.

I'd argue the alcohol felt like it was a lot stronger than the 11.5% on the label, but this was still a fair bit lighter style for one of our favorite Portuguese grapes all around and made for an excellent pairing with sous vide lamb shank.

07/10/2026

When Kanika | W**e Educator | Indian & Asian Pairing Specialist offers to bust out rare grapes picked up from a recent trip to Crete, we can't say no.

Dafni was quite the surprise.

Lower acidity in this white was paired with rather savory notes of olive and herbs to name a few. It was one of those w**es we just dwelled over for an hour talking about.

Then Kanika pulled fresh peppers from her garden, roasted them on the fire, and topped them with capers. Oh. My. Word. What a pairing.

Although this is the only time we've tried a Dafni w**e so far, it has immediately rocketed up the list of our favorite obscure grapes. So much so that I kind of want to plan a trip to Crete just to try more.

03/10/2026

Note to self- always have at least one Hamilton Russell Chardonnay on hand at all times.

28/09/2026

Perks of going to a w**ery for a tour and tasting- sometimes finding bottles you won't get anywhere else.

Only 600 bottles of this 20 year Boal with some old vine Tinta Negra blended in were produced by our favorite Madeira producer (Barbeito Madeira), and, naturally, we picked up one of their last bottles to go after our tasting earlier this year.

Going to savor this one as long as possible.

24/09/2026

Normally we are partial to Grenache from the Rhone, but we switch it up every now and again for other countries. This beautiful Garnatxa from Spain is a prime example of why you should do so!

This Garnatxa was pale ruby in color with medium aromas of black cherry, balsamic, cranberry, red plum, clove, blueberry, and violet.

On the palate, it was dry with high acidity, medium alcohol, body, and flavor intensity, medium(-) smooth tannin, and a medium(+) finish.

This one was perhaps not as complex as the aroma but we had a wealth of red cherry, raspberry, cranberry, clove, red plum, and cedar to name a few.

17/09/2026

Back to Denmark we go for two new grapes- Rondo and Cabernet Cortis!

These are unique hybrids, sometimes called PIWI grapes, that are bred to be cold tolerant with more disease resistance for wet/cool climates.

This rose blend was pale pink-orange in color with medium aromas of red cherry, raspberry, strawberry, watermelon, watermelon rind, grapefruit, white blossom, and wet stone.

On the palate, it was dry with high acidity, medium alcohol, and medium(+) body, flavor intensity, and finish. We had notes a lot like the nose here but perhaps with a bit of orange marmalade and pink grapefruit, too.

Normally we have found some PIWI grapes have an unusual acidity structure that is off-putting, but this one would hold up against most rose w**e nicely!

14/09/2026

The w**e pin collection is starting to look mighty fine. German W**e Scholar along with WSET Levels 2-4. Wheeee. 🍷

12/09/2026

After finishing German W**e Scholar, I thought it'd be appropriate to compare how a W**e Scholar Guild Scholar class compares to the WSET program.

So if you're curious about the differences or are considering switching from one program to another, this one is for you.

Are you considering a w**e class through programs like WSET or the W**e Scholar Guild? We compare the two in this one!

08/09/2026

Over to Bordeaux we go for a Lalande-de-Pomerol.

This one was medium ruby in color with medium aromas of dried black cherry, cranberry, dried leaves, vanilla, to***co, leather, bramble, and clove.

On the palate it was dry with medium acidity, body, and flavor intensity, high alcohol, plus a medium(+) coarse tannin and finish. We had notes a lot like the nose but perhaps with a tish stronger fruit concentration relative to the leather and to***co notes.

This one went quite nicely with a steak and still showed a ton of life in it!