For anyone who loves Pinot Noir, it’s kind of thrilling to find a good one that doesn’t break the bank. Ex Post Facto’s Pinot is just plain lipsmacking. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Badia a Passignano (The Abbey of Passignano) is a 9th-century monastery, today owned by the Antinori family, one of the most famous winemaking families in all of Italy. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

If you imagine a fresh apple tart—the apples crunchy and sweetly ripe, the pastry rich and crumbly—and then imagine a dollop of vanilla whipped cream on top, this is that Chardonnay. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

South African wines are some of the world’s greatest red wine deals right now and this Cabernet from David Finlayson is a superb example.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Every year, I can’t wait to taste the new vintage of Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

It’s my weakness, Champagne. I am budget conscious with just about everything else, but when it comes to Champagne, I am helpless. And this—this grower Champagne—is The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

A wine that tastes this good shouldn’t cost this little. Named after a wandering stray dog that followed the owners over the course of a 6-day, 100-mile backpacking hike along the South African coast, Lubanzi (the wine) is absolutely delicious.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

If you look up spice in America, it’s quickly apparent that in the US, we love spices. Consumption of spices has skyrocketed in the last couple of decades. So I think we’re ready for this fantastic spicy wine. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Donnafugata (the word means “woman on the run”) makes some of Sicily’s most fascinating wines and this white, made from vineyards on the active volcano Mt Etna, is certainly that. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Finding a delicious bold Cabernet that costs less than $5 a glass is a rare occurrence. But here it is. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

If you want to drink a sparkling wine when it’s as close to its beautiful infancy as possible, you have to get a great Pét-Nat. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Great California Chardonnay is not buttery, not thick, not oaky, and not heavy. And neither is it thin, tinny, and weedy. Instead, it’s like this wine: The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

There’s a kind of deep, earthy sexiness and spiciness to the red wines of southern France—especially those from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This is California’s “Châteauneuf.” The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This white is stunningly delicious. There’s no other word that captures its beauty and power. You just want to keep drinking it. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Dr. Loosen makes fantastically pure and crystalline bone-dry Rieslings that are so vibrant they remind me of a soprano hitting a high note. This wine’s throttling freshness makes it very exciting to drink. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Beautifully rich and refined, Catena Zapata’s 2022 “Argentino” Malbec is a stunning example of just how fantastic a great Argentine Malbec can be. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Texturally speaking, white wines that are both crisp and creamy at the same time are super delicious. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

So there I was with an almost priest. I happened to sit next to him on a picnic bench. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Ridge has been synonymous with top-end Zinfandel for decades, and several of those Zins are harmonic blends of old, historic California red varietiesThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

There are Pinot Noirs that lean into fruit, and Pinots that lean into something primordial, something of the earth. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Ah, Spain. Where else can you get a fantastic red wine that’s nearly ten years old for $20 (just $4 a glass)? The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Chenin Blanc is quietly (thankfully) making a comeback in California, and some of the best are being made by top winemakers like Peter Heitz (famous for his majestic Napa Valley Cabernets at Turnbull winery). The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Here’s a delicious vibrant red that’s super juicy, fresh, light-bodied and bright—the kind of red that’s effortless to drink and goes with everything. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Spiciness, black pepperiness, and wild sage are all delicious characteristics in Cabernet Sauvignon, and this Cab from Minus Tide is loaded with them. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This is the first time (in ten years) that our Wine to Know has cost just $10. And amazingly, it’s a Pinot Noir—generally one of the hardest and most expensive varieties to farm and make into good wine. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Port boggles the mind. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

In Bordeaux, Merlot is prized for its soft core—a plushness right in the middle of the flavor that gives wines like St-Emilions and Pomerols their richness. Merlot in California can be like that too. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I’ve always loved this winery’s name—Résonance. To resonate is to deeply connect with something. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Sometimes you just need a really good white wine under $20. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

In a recent tasting of more than 70 northern California Chardonnays, this one from Scribe was the mostThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

When I first met John Duval he was the head winemaker at Penfolds and making Grange, Australia’s best known wine. That was quite a while ago, before his “retirement” when he quietly created John Duval Wines. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I meant it when, earlier this fall, I said that this wine (100 points) will blow your mind.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I’ve always thought of great Chardonnay as a winter white—mouthfilling, rich, and rightThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

One of the biggest misconceptions about California Pinot Noir is that it’s categoricallyThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

A roast of beef, a leg of lamb, the Christmas turkey…to drink this Cornas with meat isThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

At some point this fall, you just might need a really special gift. Something thatThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This 100-point wine is the best Pinot Gris I’ve ever tasted. Luxurious and languorous,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I love it when a sparkling wine is laser tight—when it’s like an athlete whose everyThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I’m a fall cook, and that changes everything when it comes to wine. Slowly braised roastsThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

The brash, bring-it-on name of this Italian white wine makes lots of people smile. And the name canThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This Cabernet is Chimney Rock’s 40^th vintage in the Stags Leap District—the tinyThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I admit to tasting this wine well before I grabbed the bottle out The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Pure tasting and very fresh, Tablas Creek’s Vermentino has a wonderful “aliveness” on the palate.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Big Table Farm, a winery and working farm, makes some of the best artisanal ChardonnaysThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Drinking this Loire white from the village of Savennières, an image flashed across my mind—an image The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

In some places, the “voice of the land” is loud and the “heartbeat,” strong.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Once a wine is in your mouth, the flavors have a flow as one sensory impression flows into the next.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I love the indigenous Sicilian white grape Grillo. It’s bright, lively, snappy,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

OMG is this red good! The flavors are firing on all cylinders: raspberries,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Every now and then a producer comes along who can coax out all kinds of thingsThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Such is the popularity of Provençal rosé, that it’s easy to forget (or not realize)  that Provence makes some The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Don’t be fooled by the striking magenta color of the ancient Italian red grape Frappato.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This is one of the best California sparkling wines I’ve ever tasted.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Sicily is one of the most beautiful and intriguing islands in the Mediterranean,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

For more than a century, northern Portugal’s white wines (especially Vinho Verdes)The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

If ever there was a Champagne that exuded the beauty of Summer, The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Morgan has been making well-priced wines on the Central Coast of CaliforniaThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Big Table Farm, one of the top small wine producers in Oregon, has a way of making elegant,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Great Riojas have a deep earthiness that can seem almost primordial.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Here’s the first really good rosé we’ve tasted this year—and it’s an irresistible deal The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Compared to polished, aristocratic Bordeaux and sensual Burgundy,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Big, impressive Cabernets like this almost always cost twice as much as this does,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

One of the tip-offs to a really good wine is to look on the back label and see who imports it.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Alfred Gratien’s dry Brut rosé is Springtime in a glass.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Chianti Classico wines that are designated “Gran Selezione” are the region’s “Grand Crus.” The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

What Burgundy is to Chardonnay (the best place in the world for the grape),The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Among the great wines few wine drinkers will ever enjoy: the top white Burgundies,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

VIK is one of the best Cabernet Francs I’ve ever tasted and certainly one of theThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This is the first time I’ve ever written a Wine to Know that isn’t actually a wine.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I LOVE it when a wine tastes like it costs a whole lot more than it does.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

You might say this wine is back to the future.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I can’t believe this Bordeaux costs $89. Admittedly, any wine that’s over $50 isn’t cheap.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I’m thinking: Valentine’s Day. Not just with Mr. or Ms.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

The top Margaret River Cabernets like Vasse Felix have a black silk characterThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

When white Bordeaux excels, it really excels, and this complex dry white from Château Climens is a knockout.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This wine is ravishing. Deeply rich; elegant; and so full of energy,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

If you’re looking for fantastically bright, fresh, lively—and rich–ChardonnayThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Brian Talley and his family have been growing orchard fruits and vegetables,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Pictured: Turnbull winemaker, Peter Heitz

Turnbull’s Cabernet from Oakville in the heart of the Napa Valley reminds me of everythingThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

If you love Pinot Noir, then Barolo is the Italian wine for you.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I love this white wine—starting with the easy-to-remember name: Raats!The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This is the best Viognier I have ever tasted, and I hope you’ll experience it too.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Even if I’d never tasted this Grower Champagne, I’d take a chance and buy it based on three things: 1)The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

I’m starting to think about wines I want to celebrate with this fall, or give as gifts,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This is a remarkable wine. First, because the vineyards are at the deep southern 45^th parallelThe following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

A mountain meadow brushed by salty breezes off the Mediterranean Sea.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

The sensuality of this wine is astounding. It smells warm and cool and salty all at the same time The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Hirsch’s Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is bursting with so much freshness,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Luscious, complex, elegant, artisanal, and humming with aliveness,The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Ridge is known for making the complex, beautiful, structured side of Zinfandel.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Bethel Heights is one of the pioneering Willamette Valley wineries.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

The price is not a typo. This gem is just $3 a glass, and the wine is terrific.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

This Pinot, about $10 a glass, absolutely overdelivers.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

Whatever one thinks about California Sauvignon Blanc, this is not that.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

In a word, this wine is explosive.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.