Keuka Lake Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Young Block 2019 Review

Keuka Lake Vineyard is a great spot to hang out for a while, sample some easy-drinking wines, and take in the beauty that is the Finger Lakes.

In fact, when we visited this one in 2020 we had such a great time talking with the owner (who we found out was also from Pittsburgh) that we got another reminder of an aspect of wine that we often do not discuss a lot on this site- the people behind it. Hearing stories of growing up in Pittsburgh, working in Nepal, and more reminded us of how much we love this part of wine tasting.

Naturally, we left with several bottles, and Keuka Lake Vineyard's Sauvignon Blanc Young Block was one such wine. It didn't take long after returning home for us to open this easy-drinking white!

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Standing Stone Chardonnay 2018 Review – Cool Climate Wine

While we've visited Finger Lakes wineries many times over the years, we only visited Standing Stone for the first time in 2020 on the recommendation of a friend to try out their Saperavi.

But after arriving, we found that we enjoyed just about everything the winery offered on our flight. In talking to our server about the wines, we also learned that one of our favorite wineries in the region, Hermann J Wiemer, bought Standing Stone in 2017. This was really all we needed to know about why we liked our entire flight so much- quality producers make quality wines.

Naturally, we purchased many bottles to enjoy at home and one was the Standing Stone Chardonnay 2018 that we opened up in late 2020.

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Cakebread Pinot Noir Annahala Ranch 2015 Review – Classic Pinot

When we visited Napa, one of the first vineyards we made it to was Cakebread Cellars. Not only did we have a wonderful time at our tasting, we walked away with several bottles to enjoy at home. (You can read more about how we checked wine on a plane here.)

One such bottle was Cakebread's Pinot Noir Annahala Ranch 2015 and when we opened it in 2020 at five years old we knew we had found a gem- both for its flavor profile and its price point!

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McGregor Cabernet Franc 2018 Review – A Solid Representation

Every so often we crack open a bottle of wine and instantly think it is a characteristic representation of the varietal as we know it. All wines are different of course, even with the same grape varietal, but every so often we crack open a bottle and go “yes, this is exactly what we expected!”

McGregor Cabernet Franc was one such bottle, and it had everything we enjoy from this particular grape.

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Clos du Roy Fronsac 2016 Review – Surprisingly Tannic

The Clos du Roy Fronsac is a primarily Merlot-based wine (90%) with just a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blended in for good measure (5%) of each.

We quickly noticed two things after opening this one. On the nose, it was incredibly perfumed and on the palate, it was significantly more tannic than we expected.

You guessed it, we opened this one too soon.

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Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 2011 Review – A Fine Riesling

Our first Trimbach Riesling was a Grand Cru sampled at Wine Bar George at Disney Springs in 2019. It was truly one of the finest Rieslings we've ever had and helped cement our love affair with all things Alsace.

A little while later, we found another Trimbach bottle in our local liquor store- the Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 2011. While this one came with a fairly sufficient sticker price ($70 in 2020), we reflected on how much we enjoyed our earlier Trimbach, threw caution to the wind, and picked it up all the same.

Then we decided to crack it open on a Monday night just because we can.

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A&D Wines Casa do Arrabalde 2018 Review – Acid & Grapefruit

We had our first bottle of wine from A&D Wines in our Plonk Wine Club order- the stellar Monologo Avesso that was one of the best whites we had that year.

Naturally, when we put in an order for more wine from Plonk a la carte we decided to check out another bottle from this supplier- the Casa do Arrabalde. While this one was a blend of near equal parts of Avesso, Alvarinho, and Arinto, it stacked up being a delicious Portuguese white wine all the same.

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The Fableist Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 Review – Modest Tannin

The Fableist Cabernet Sauvignon is not a pure bottle of Cab, but is in fact comprised of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and balanced with Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Tempranillo.

We opened this one for a steak pairing thinking we'd have a pronounced acid and tannin fruit bomb, but instead found something a bit more nuanced. Good for what we were tasting, but perhaps not the best for the particular pairing.

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Wines of Illyria Vranac 2015 Review – Easy Drinking Red

Our first Bosnian wine is Wines of Illyria's Vranac- a red wine that hails from the Herzegovina region and one we sadly missed during our brief day-trip to the country in 2013.

Thankfully, we found this one to be a high acid, low tannin red that goes down quickly!

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