2012 Quick Reviews - White Wine Readers' Favorites

In 2012, Champagne was still the favorite, but Riesling was popular reading, among the Quick Reviews for white wine. Here are the most viewed quick reviews on white wine for the year:

5. Viridian Pinot Gris
4. Dr Konstantin Frank Semi-Dry Riesling
3. Brotherhood Winery Riesling
2. Dr Konstantin Frank Wine Pairing Dinner
1. Perrier-Jouet Champagne

How-To: Pick a Before Dinner Drink

We spend a lot of time talking about what wines to drink with a meal, but sometimes you want to start with a glass of something before the meal starts. Whether you have to wait for a table at the bar, or you are celebrating a special evening, or you just want to sit and enjoy yourself for a little longer, there is a perfect aperitif for you.

Quick Review... Billecart Salmon Brut

France, Mareuil-sur-Ay, Champagne, Billecart Salmon Brut, NV
+ // Crisp // Lemon, Bread // Green Apple, Lemon // Light

A perfect start to a meal, with tart, crisp flavors to get the mouth watering. Note this is a "true" Champagne; it comes from the Champagne region of France.

Favorites of 2011... Quick Reviw: Perrier-Jouet

This week, we are recapping some of your favorite articles from the year...

It should come as no surprise that the most sought after review on our site is the most renowned wine we drank all year; Champagne from Perrier-Jouet. So let’s all pop a bottle of the bubbly to celebrate!

Best of 2011... Favorite Wines

This week, we are recapping some of our favorite things from the year...

We had the opportunity to try a lot of excellent wine this year, but there are some that really stood out.

It’s tough to pick just one, but we really came to love Cabernet Francs this year.
They made for some superbly sippable reds, both from New York and Virginia.

While we had some really excellent 2010 Rieslings from the Finger Lakes, it was a Chardonnay from California that really stood out, and reminded us that Chardonnay can be wonderfully deep and complex.

For sparkling wine, the Champagne from Perrier-Jouet was by far the best, and really, it was the most outstanding wine we had all year. But the Moscato d’Asti was an exceptional value, if you have to pay for the bottle yourself.

Best of 2011... Did You Know About Blended WInes?

This week, we are recapping some of our favorite things from the year...
 
I think the best thing we learned this year was how to appreciate Blended Wines. Between seeing the benefit in the Virginian wines to tasting the pure craftsmanship of world class Champagne it’s easy to see why blending grapes to get the perfect flavor can be a good thing.

Did you know? . . . Blended Wines

Americans like their wines label by the varietal. If we don’t know the grape as soon as we look at the name, we consider it a cheap drink. But French wines embrace the blending of grapes, as a way to control style. This is epitomized by Champagne, a wine that is always a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Petit Meunier. This is done so that the Champagne house can guarantee identical flavor from year to year, despite seasonal variations in the individual varietals. For other wines, its a way to augment the grapes, allowing a winemaker to avoid a “donut wine”--a wine with obvious holes in the flavor and body of the wine. Consider this time Bordeaux wine--wine made from a blend of grapes produced in the Bordeaux region in France. A blend lets a winemaker select the best elements from a range of grapes, and play to the strength of each, creating a better overall wine.  Like Champagne, this will allow for a more consistent wine from year to year, and gives you a better idea of what the wine will be like, even if you don’t know the particulars of the vintage year.