Yesterday, Expedition Wines & Spirits hosted a homegrown American wines tasting at Crofton on Wells, and Don and I attended in search of new Pinot Noirs to bring into the store.
I was impressed to see the variation in acidity, tartness, and finish from California Pinot to Oregonian Pinot. The redder fruit in the cooler climate [...]

In our first official March Madness Taste-off, Grenache battled Shiraz, Malbec battled Malbec, Montepulciano battled Corbierres, and Petite Sirah battled Zinfandel in an “Elite Eight” showdown. Nineteen Just Grapes customers attended the class, which was open to the public, and when the Big Dance was done with, the 2005 Graziano Zinfandel from Mendocino, California stood alone, defeating [...]

By Brett Ashley McKenzie
Too often at weddings the table wine is guzzled like tap water, and brides and grooms can only look on in horror as guests young and old Cha Cha Slide with perilously poor balance. In many cases, wines provided by reception halls are less than top notch, therefore offering little to savor and becoming nothing more than [...]

By Brett Ashley McKenzie
Print out your Just Grapes bracket, grab your pencils, your stemware and favorite wines from Just Grapes, and prepare for our first-ever full-size Just Grapes March Madness Bracket Challenge!

We’ve taken 64 of our favorites and pitted them against one another in four regional showdowns: North America, South America, Europe, and Africa/Oceania.
Do you [...]

by Brett Ashley McKenzie
At the Paso Robles Grand Tasting on Tuesday, March 10, I stood at the Adelaida Cellars table with a glass of 2006 HMR Estate Pinot Noir in one hand and a giant, chalky rock in the other. The rock covered my hand in a fine white dust, which remained on my skin [...]

Full disclosure: I am not a beer person. I’m not a whiskey person either. So every Saint Patrick’s Day, when Chicago decks itself top to bottom in green, I bite my tongue and raise my lone wine glass amidst a sea of Guinness pints and whiskey shooters. I imagine this is how non-margarita people feel on Cinco de Mayo, how non-Egg Nog people feel on Christmas, and how non-Champagne people feel on New Year’s. So what’s a wine lover to drink with their corned beef and cabbage?

by Brett Ashley McKenzie
We’ve all had nights where we’ve planned a get-together with friends at our favorite Chicago Thai, Indian, Vietnamese or sushi spots. You show up, greet your friends at the door and head to your table, prepared to order a few bottles of wine to share… only to learn from your server that [...]

By Brett Ashley McKenzie
I’ve been in Las Vegas for the weekend for a friend’s wedding, and for the entire week leading up to the trip, I tried to decide where to splurge for our one fantastic dinner. Every trip we take, be it to New Jersey where I grew up or Barbados, my fiance and [...]

On Monday, I attended the Olé Imports Portfolio Tasting at Cream Wine Company, where more than 50 Spanish reds, whites, and rosés from a dozen regions were poured. Region by region, here are the highlights.
Cataluna: The Cataluna (also known as Catalonia) region of Spain is home to D.O. Cava, where 95 percent of Spain’s acclaimed [...]

By Brett Ashley McKenzie
Jack: If they want to drink Merlot, we’re drinking Merlot.
Miles: No, if anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving.
Ah, Miles. The visceral hatred of Merlot espoused by the neurotic protagonist in “Sideways” effectively poisoned the public against the medium-bodied red wine, without the film giving a concrete explanation as to why. In 2005, following [...]