Wine Reviews

Rotie Cellars Southern Red 2019 Review – A Rhone Blend in Washington

It only took a while after arriving in Washington that we realize this state produces some pretty incredible grapes. Not only that, but Washington wineries tend to produce similar to two renowned Old World styles- namely Bordeaux and Rhone blends.

As we are fans of all things Rhone wine (less so Bordeaux, if we are being honest), we were drawn to sampling as much Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre as we could in Washington.

So when we were visiting Latta Vineyards outside of Seattle (after trying a bottle of their amazing Grenache), we found ourselves heading next door to Rotie Cellars immediately thereafter. As the name comes from one of the best wine regions in the Rhone (making arguably some of the finest Syrah in the world), we knew we had to give them a try.

As it turns out, their Southern Rhone Blend was a winner!

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Cave Ridge Le Bon Minou NV Review – A Perfect Thirst Quencher

Before discussing Cave Ridge's Pet Nat, Le Bon Minou, we should take a step back and make a special note of the winery itself.

I was fortunate enough to visit Cave Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia on a trip and found it to be one of the most beautiful wineries in Shenandoah. The ambiance was so nice, in fact, that I stuck around for an extra glass of wine after my flight simply to soak up the view, which, as luck would have it, ended up being the Le Bon Minou Pet Nat- of which I naturally bought a bottle.

So while this winery is indeed quite remote, even by Shenandoah standards (I later sent my brother, particularly for another Pet Nat bottle, and his only reply once there was “how did you find this place?!”). Yes, it is that remote.

But those making the trek to this particular vineyard will love it for the views, but you'll want to stay for another to try the Le Bon Minou if it is not available in a flight.

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Quinta do Portal Grande Reserva 2016 Review – High Praise Abound

During our travels around Portugal, we had two kinds of red wines. The first was intense, hot climate reds that were loaded with tannin and out of balance with the other flavor characteristics. The second had the same intensity but managed to find the perfect balance to make them enjoyable.

Quinta do Portal's Grande Reserva was most certainly the latter. This wine sings.

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Quinta do Ferro Sparkling Seco NV – Lovely Portuguese Sparkling

As far as Portuguese grapes are concerned, Avesso is a bit of an unsung hero. Part of it is simply because it is delicious (routinely one of my favorite whites from the country) but also that the production is quite limited- just a few vineyards even grow this grape at all!

So when we say it was quite rare to find a sparkling Avesso, made in the traditional method, from Quinta do Ferro, we really mean it.

We were fortunate enough to meet up with one of the owners from Quinta do Ferro when in Portugal thanks to an introduction by our local wine school, and we were able to bring a bottle of the Ferro Sparkling home with us courtesy of the winery. Naturally, it lasted about a month in our house before we had to open it because, you know, we love Avesso (and also had reasons to celebrate with family- so double win).

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Ramilo Arinto 2017 Review – Fruity, Salinity, and Minerality

When it comes to Portuguese whites, you really can be all over the place in terms of what you get. But for us, one of our favorite white grapes is Arinto thanks to its high acidity, rich flavor profile, and salinity/minerality that really works with seafood dishes.

Ramilo's Arinto was no different, and this one worked beautifully with sous vide octopus!

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Quinta do Tedo 20 Year Tawny Port Review – All The Flavor

Quinta do Tedo is a stellar winery in the Douro Valley that we were fortunate enough to visit in 2021. While this one is among the younger producers out there (by Douro standards at least), they do have a healthy mix of still and port wines, with their tawny line starting to creep into the 20+ year mark.

Naturally, we sampled a 20 year tawny here and quite enjoyed it such that we brought a bottle back with us to share with friends. It didn't last long.

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Willamette Valley Vineyards Griffin Creek Grenache 2017 Review

We have becoming bigger fans of Grenache the more we drink it, especially Grenaches grown in Washington and Oregon in particular.

When we had a chance to try out Willamette Valley Vineyards Griffin Creek Grenache courtesy of wine service Divvy-Up, we jumped on it and opened the bottle for Thanksgiving dinner just a short while after it was delivered.

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Vipava 1894 Pinela Lanthieri 2019 Review – A Flavorful Slovenian

Every time we go into a new liquor store, I'm always on the lookout for wines with new-to-us grapes to help us in our quest here at The Grape Pursuit.

I did this while exploring Total Wine outside of Washington DC and stumbled upon the Slovenian grape, Pinela, in a bottle by Vipava 1894. It only lasted a few weeks in our house before we opened it, and I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with how flavorful this one is.

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Olivier Morin Bourgogne Aligote 2017 Review – A Nice Complexity

When you think of white wines for Burgundy, your mind probably goes to Chardonnay. But there are other white grapes from this famous region in France, with one particular one, Aligote, we've only recently been able to try.

Olivier Morin's Aligote could have been a simple-but-acidic white wine, but this one had a nice complexity to it thanks to a year of lees aging.

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David & Nadia Topography Pinotage 2019 Review

Oh Pinotage, you are an interesting grape. A cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, this popular South African variety has many of the characteristics we love about the former grape bit amped up in intensity from the latter.

Interestingly enough, Pinotage comes with an interesting flavor characteristic you may not find on other grapes- coffee!

While we would say that David & Nadia's Topography Pinotage is perhaps lighter in the coffee notes than we've had in other bottles of this grape, it does hit us with all the right notes all the same.

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