John Anthony Syrah 2012 – 93 Pts.
I had just finished taking my WSET I exam at the Napa Valley Wine Academy after a day-long course, and had stepped out into the warm summer breeze of early […]
Author Archives: Mark & Sonja Gudgel
On Rating Wine
A number of people have inquired about how I rate wine, in particular perhaps because I often write something such as “90 points on my scale” as the end of […]
Smith-Madrone Riesling 2014 – 95 Pts.
Happy Friday! Next month, a full-length piece I wrote on Smith-Madrone’s entire portfolio will come out in Food & Spirits Magazine. Until then, however, I wanted to start the weekend off […]
Pride Merlot 2013 – 93 Pts.
Upon arriving at Pride Mountain Vineyards, a lodge-looking structure that sits high atop Diamond Mountain, straddling the line between Napa and Sonoma counties, we were greeted by a somber sight. […]
Schramsberg Vineyards Review
The northern Napa Valley was still a thickly forested, rugged terrain, and a difficult place to navigate when Jacob Schram set forth to establish the second winery in the area, one year […]
Pellet Estate Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay 2013 – 94 Pts.
Here’s the problem: I’m way too particular when it comes to Chardonnay. If we’re drinking Merlot, I can appreciate a wide variety of styles and takes on the varietal, from […]
Far Niente Winery Review
The “noble experiment” that was Prohibition, the result of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, lasted from 1919 to 1933 and did irreparable damage […]
Oliver Creekbend Vineyard III 2015 – 94 Pts.
It was many months ago now that our neighbors across the street, Baron and Travis, first introduced us to Oliver wines from Indiana. Baron, a Hoosier himself by way of […]
Silver Trident “Twenty Seven Fathoms” Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – 89 Pts.
It had been a long day of tasting wine, a statement which tends to elicit little pity from most people, yet to those who travel as I do, tasting at […]
Titus Merlot 2012 – 91 Pts.
The other night, Sonja and I decided to walk to the neighborhood grocery store, grab some meat and cheese, and make dinner out of it. We walked the one mile to […]
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