The Merry Drinker
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Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2004, Marlborough
Above all else I am a lover of the Pinot Noir grape. If I were compelled to drink only one wine for the rest of my life, that wine would undoubtedly be a Burgundy, the grape???s highest expression. (Ah, but which one?) But I am not a millionaire. And each year, like all non-millionaire Pinot Noir …
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Condrieu 2005 E. Guigal
I read all the time that Viognier is a highly fashionable grape. Perhaps it is, but not among anyone I know. When it is time to serve white wines, most of my friends still pour out oaky Chardonnays, citric Sauvignon Blancs and the occasional Pinot Grigio. Nothing wrong with any of that, of course. …
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Montiano 2003, Falesco
Back in the early 1990s I came across a newspaper review of a wine from Lazio, the Central Italian province surrounding Rome. The wine was a 100% Merlot. It was produced by a house called Falesco near the provincial town of Viterbo, fifty miles north of the capital. The reviewer praised it, thoug …
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Ch??teau Lilian Ladouys, Saint-Est??phe 2003
I am always suspicious when the word is used to describe wines. The same goes for cigar boxes, leather, and all the other strange things to which wines are routinely compared. But seems especially dubious. If a wine really did taste of chocolate, we would surely not think this a point in its fa …
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Hofst??tter Kolbenhof Gew??rztraminer 2005
A lot of people steer clear of Gew They say it tastes medicinal, that it isn???t dry enough, that it is hard to match with food. To all that I say At its best, Gew??rz offers a magnificent cavalcade of tastes and aromas, luscious and varied enough to be drunk on its own. If your wine must accom …
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Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
The best South American wines are still from Chile, whatever claims people make for Argentina. Of course there are some very good Argentine wines, and their numbers are growing. But a few excitable commentators are telling us that the Argentine industry will soon equal Chile???s and may even surpa …
The Merry Drinker
