It seems that many times I taste a new wine and just have to add it to a long growing list of favorites. When first tasting this wine, it was, in today's vernacular, 'OMG.' Tonight I dug into my modest wine vault and found a Ravines Wine Cellars , Cabernet Franc 2007. hope I never get to that point in my lifetime. It has! MORE >>

How far would you drive to taste some vintage port? That’s most often a rhetorical question but I actually confronted it head on last week as a rare vertical tasting including some legendary wines came on the agenda in Montreal. The wines were exported in cask and bottled and cellared there. So I hopped in the car. MORE >>

Here are some notes on great wines that I was lucky to drink in July, mostly because of the generosity of friends: Equipo Navazos La Bota de Fino Nº 24 , $60, Eric Solomon Selections/Imported by European Cellars. Absolutely delicious and memorable to me because of the incredible clarity with which it tasted of fresh juicy yellow plums. MORE >>

have never tasted an aged version of this wine, but I hear that it has something in common with Riesling, in that the aromas and flavors can take on a petrol quality, and the delineation of flavors and aromas becomes quite thrilling. This wine is beautiful: fresh and pure tasting, with floral, fruit, and honeyed character. MORE >>

Sure enough, Eric posted the wines served, complete with tasting notes. In fact, the Bush White House served the Peter Michael “Les Pavots” 2003 ( about $275 ) to none other than Queen Elizabeth when she visited in 2007. For the full menu (pdf) , click here. Appetizers: crostini. USA, Virginia, Central Region, Monticello. MORE >>