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Think Gamay and you probably think Beaujolais. I hope you think real Beaujolais, but maybe you think Beaujolais Nouveau, the grapey brew that arrives just before Thanksgiving in time for your leftover turkey sandwiches. Gamay is one of the world's most food-friendly and affordable red wines. It's also the perfect wine for beating back winter blahs and blues.  read more »

By Jim Boyce Guy Wittich (top right) leads a Rhone Valley wine tour. Guy Wittich , CEO of the European Chamber of Commerce in Taipei , has been intimately involved in Taiwan’s wine scene for decades, whether as a consumer or a club, event, and trip organizer. I asked him about his experiences in Taiwan and the state of its wine sector. (Note: Wittich is my former boss and piqued my interest in wine when he asked me to help the chamber organize a series of dinners in 2003.)   You’ve been in Taipei since the 1980s . How does the wine scene compare then and now, and what are the emerging trends ?  read more »

New Wines at NapaCabs.com  read more »

New Wines at NapaCabs.com  read more »

Alamos 2006 Malbec Mendoza Seleccion (Catena) $11.95
Wine Tasting Notes - WA 90pts. The Alamos Seleccion Malbec presents a deeply dark violet color with blackish tones. The nose is full of ripe black fruits with floral tones and touches of leather, vanilla and spice. The mouthfeel is full  read more »

I'm a big fan of the 2006 vintage in Beaujolais. What I love about the '06s so far, aside from their sheer deliciousness, is their transparency - they are so clearly and unmistakably Beaujolais. The more experienced among us (not me in this case) would probably take this a step further and say "that wine is unmistakably Morgon," or Fleurie, or Chiroubles, or what have you. I don't know enough to be able to say things like that. But when I say unmistakably Beaujolais, I mean that the wines are ripe and vibrant with fruit, spicy, there is a fleeting sense of soil underneath everything, the acidity is refreshing but not the most prominent aspect of the wine, and there is that something, that unique Beaujolais aroma and flavor, that young, loaded with potential energy, just graduated from college, about to take over the world quality. Hard to describe - taste them yourself and you'll see. Here are a few notes on the 2006 Beaujolais that I've had so far.  read more »

Yesterday, I posted my review of the 2006 Jean-Rene Germanier Dole Balavaud , the first of three new Swiss wines I recently purchased at Salem Wine Imports . Today, I move on to the second wine, a Gamay.  read more »

Preferences and fads in wine styles come and go. The movie "Sideways" created an increased demand for Pinot Noir. That seems to have settled back and now Merlot sales are increasing once again. With consumers becoming ever more knowledgeable about wines, might we see a decrease in the ever popular "White Zinfandel"?  read more »

A couple years ago BrooklynLady and I went to a friend's house for dinner and I brought a bottle of 2004 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuv e Tardive. The wine was waaaay too young to drink at that stage but I didn't know that, I thought it was just mediocre wine. And it confused me because I so much enjoyed another Roilette bottle I had a week or two earlier. But the first bottle was not the Cuv e Tardive, it was the "regular" Roilette. I didn't know they were two different wines. The one thing I knew for certain, is that I loved the label. How nice is that racehorse, and how great a choice is the orange/yellow background?  read more »