Author Archives: caspernick

Zephaniah Farm Vineyard Rose 2023, Loudoun County, Virginia

01 Saturday Nov 2025

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Pale salmon colored with medium viscosity (12% ABV).  The nose has medium intensity aromas of strawberry, lemon pith, tangerine, lanolin, white blossom, and papaya.  The palate is dry with high acidity, and a medium (-) body.  Medium (+) intensity flavors of strawberry and lemon pith, with some tangerine and white blossom notes.  The wine is bracing and the finish runs medium (-) in length but the acidity goes on for days.  It’s ‘refreshing’.  I’m pairing it with Cajun Shrimp and Andouille- should work out perfectly.  88 points from this Chamborcin based rosé which runs $32 ex-chateaux making it a 3 star wine to drink over the next few years.  Salut….

Zephaniah Farm Vineyard Rose

Carmen Stevens Angels Reserve Shiraz 2022, Swartland, South Africa

31 Friday Oct 2025

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Medium garnet colored, with slight staining and a high viscosity (14% ABV).  The wine has a slightly murky look, perhaps it’s not filtered?  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of plums, pomegranate, blackberry, smoke, game, and cracked pepper.  The palate is dry, with medium acidity, a medium body, and medium tannins that fade quickly.  The flavors are medium in intensity and echo the nose, but with some added astringency, perhaps over-steeped black tea.  The finish is medium (+) in length and shows off some sweetness of fruit.  It’s a decent bottle that ran me $11 and gets 88 points, making it a 4 star effort.  It has some cellaring capacity, perhaps till 2030.  I am pairing it with smoked duck breast.  Salut….

Carmen Stevens Angels Reserve Shiraz

Precision Wine Co. Cabernet Sauvignon Method 2022, California

30 Thursday Oct 2025

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Deep ruby colored with medium staining, and a high viscosity (14.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of blackberry, black plum, charcoal, oak, dark chocolate, anise, orange peel, blueberry, and acai berry. The palate is dry, with medium acidity, a full body, and medium tannins.  The flavors are more pronounced and offer black/blue fruit along with some oak influence.  You can tell the grapes were very ripe at harvest, there’s a California sweetness to the wine and not from residual sugar (I don’t think).  The finish is medium in length and the whole package fades gently, making me reach for another sip.  It’s really tasty and won’t break the bank.  This is my second tasting of this wine and I am surprised at how it showed last year versus now.  It’s morphed and I get different attributes, plus I did not care for it back then as much as I like it now.  It runs about $25 but I got a steal on this bottle at Costco for a tenner.  It gets 90 points from me and ranks 5 stars.  Drink till 2030, Salut…..

Precision Wine Co. Cabernet Sauvignon

Castello di Gabbiano Cavaliere d’Oro Chianti DOCG 2021, Tuscany, Italy

27 Monday Oct 2025

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Pale ruby colored with copper highlights, and a medium viscosity (13.5% ABV).  The nose has medium intensity aromas of red raspberry, red cherry, baking spices, red currant jam, lingonberry, and wild flowers.  It’s got a bit of tertiary development starting, which excites me.  The palate is dry, with medium (+) acidity, a medium body, and medium (+) tannins that are a touch coarse.  The flavors are red fruit driven with some evolution already happening. The jammy/stewed note I got on the nose is evident and there is some old oak notes coming through.  There is a flowery hint alongside some spiciness.  The tannins are certainly present and keep gripping throughout the medium (-) length finish.  I’ll be honest, this is a Magnum that was on sale for $18.74, marked down from $25 at my local grocery store.  I bought it to use in a beef shin braise and obviously had to taste it.  I think it’s a nice wine, slightly unbalanced by the roughness of the tannins, but I am willing to overlook that.  I think it’s very serviceable and it gets 89 points from me.  I will be back to buy the rest before anyone else realizes that there’s some aged Chianti going cheap.  I would drink within the next three years, hopeful that the tannins meld and pair it with pasta.  5 stars believe it or not!  Salut….

Castello di Gabbiano Cavaliere d'Oro Chianti

Heidi Schrock & Sohne Spatlese 2024, Burgenland, Austria

26 Sunday Oct 2025

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Pale lemon colored with a watery sheen that shows high viscosity (11.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (+) intensity aromas of honey, tangerine peel, orange marmalade, white blossom, peach candy, lanolin, lemon verbena, and candied ginger.  The palate is  sweet, with medium (+) acidity, and a full body thanks to the residual sugar.  The flavors mirror the nose and run through to a long finish that sits nicely on the palate.  The acidity is masked on the back end but my mouth is watering!  It’s not overly heavy- the body is very nice and balanced.  It’s well made and delicious, worthy of 93 points from me.  I liked it at the winery when we tasted there, but it’s gotten better since I opened this bottle two nights ago.  I wish I had a few for the cellar to watch the evolution.  I found it online at $24 making it a 5 star effort to sip with dessert.  Salut….

Heidi Schrock & Sohne Spatlese

Purcari ‘Freedom’ Blend 2022, IGP Stefan Voda, Moldova

20 Monday Oct 2025

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Deep purple colored, with moderate staining, and a high viscosity (14% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of blueberries, acai berry, a medicinal note, coffee, blackberry, black plum, dried leather, and pine wood.  The palate is dry, with medium (+) acidity, a medium body, and medium (+) tannins that are starting to meld.  Flavor intensity is medium and mirrors the nose.  The finish is medium in length and the tannins turn powdery fine and lithe.  It’s a delicious blend of 65% Saperavi (a teinturier grape), 20% Rara Neagra and 15% Bastardo.  I chose it to pair with grilled Ribeye Cap steaks, it’s gonna be perfect.  At $20, this 91 pointer gets 5 stars.  Drink till 2030.  Salut….

Purcari 'Freedom' Blend

Monchiero Langhe Nebbiolo 2022, Piedmont, Italy

12 Sunday Oct 2025

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Pale ruby colored with copper highlights, and medium (-) viscosity (14.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of red cherries, green herbs, orange peel, rose, and tobacco.  It needs coaxing.  The palate is dry, with medium (+) acidity, medium (+) body, and high tannins.  The flavors are slightly more intense than the nose, yet there is a one-dimensional aspect along with some bitterness.  The tannins grip for ages, but the astringent feeling is midpalate driven and fades before the tannins.  It’s not my favorite.  The finish is medium in length and concentrates on red cherry and herbs.  I am planning on pairing it with roasted tenderloin, it should work okay as I have a Rösti on the side that might tame the tannins.  87 points from me for this $24 effort makes it a 3 star wine.  I would cellar a bottle or two and re-taste in 3-5 years.  Salut….

Monchiero Langhe Nebbiolo

Heidi Schröck & Söhne winery tour

08 Wednesday Oct 2025

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Moxie and I rented a car to get out of Munich post-Oktoberfest so we could travel around Bavaria and Austria.  Some spare time in our schedule allowed me to send a quick request to visit a winery in Rust, on Lake Neusiedl which is south of Vienna.  I chose this winery based on reviews of their wines, particularly the specialty of the region- Ruster Ausbruch.

We were greeted by Johannes, one of the twins in charge of the winery.  He was most gracious and informative, explaining all the wines, followed by a tour of the cellars.  It was a truly fun experience and we left with some treasures to enjoy at home.

My favorite was the Furmint Auslese- golden colored, it had everything I wanted in a dessert wine.  Great acidity, honeyed apricot, sweet but not sickly.  Amazing stuff and well priced.  The reds were good, but I feel this region’s strength lies in the whites and their respective stickies.  The Weissburgunder was en pointe, only being bested by the Rocks & Acid.  The barrel tasting of the Muskateller was interesting, having been racked only once and still unfiltered.  The flavors shone through, a promising wine for sure.

Well worth a visit, it’s only an hour out of Vienna.  I would imagine the town of Rust is packed in the season, there’s even a marina on the lake and quite a few wineries and restaurants.

Salut….

Domaine du Grand Montmirail Vacqueyras Mas Carré 2022, Rhone Valley, France

29 Monday Sep 2025

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Medium ruby colored, with slight staining, and a medium (+) viscosity (14.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of smoke, bacon, black cherry, black raspberry, garigue, and wet stone.  The palate is dry, with medium acidity, a full body, and medium (+) tannins.  The flavors are more pronounced than the nose but the dark, brooding fruit is there as are the smoldering notes.  Licorice appears and there’s a slightly gamy profile thanks to the Syrah (45%) that is tempered by Grenache at 55%.  The finish is a bit astringent, which is actually enticing.  The length is medium (-).  It’s a fun, food centric wine that might be a touch ascerbic if drunk alone.  89 points from me, with a drink by window till 2030.  At $25, it gets 3 stars.  I am pairing it with roasted Shoulder Filet and Harissa potatoes.  Salut….

Domaine du Grand Montmirail Vacqueyras Mas Carré

Ravines Wine Cellars Sauvignon Blanc 2022, Finger Lakes, New York

25 Thursday Sep 2025

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Pale straw colored with lowish viscosity (12.5% ABV).  The nose has medium (-) intensity aromas of cut grass, lemon/lime soda, passion fruit, papaya, and cut green herbs.  The palate is dry, with high acidity, and a medium (-) body.  The flavors are medium in intensity and mirror the nose ending with a medium length finish.  There’s nothing too exciting going on, it’s a subtle approach to Sauvignon Blanc.  I am pairing it with Lobster Scampi, I think the acidity will go nicely with the buttery garlic.  88 points from me for this $17 effort makes it a 3 star wine to enjoy in the short term.  Salut….

Ravines Wine Cellars Sauvignon Blanc