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Nearly every day that we are seeing suppliers, a customer will stick their head in the door during our tastings and say something like “Must be nice just to sit around and drink all day” or “I want your job”.  Now, admittedly, it beats a lot of vocations in terms of safety (like fireman, oil […]

To all Wine Exchangers, There’s the old saying about how it’s ‘not over until the fat lady sings’.   Well, in that vein, we’d have to posit that rosé season isn’t over until, well, ever.  Yeah, we live in Southern California where it isn’t uncommon to have a string of hot days in November.  And, sure, […]

To all Wine Exchangers, When we assess wines for our ongoing program of reasonably-priced Chateau-direct, aged Bordeaux the old saying, ” there are no great wines, just great bottles” constantly echoes through our brain. This, in my humble opinion, is so true. I’ve had great 89 point wines and not-so-great 95 point wines in my […]

To all Wine Exchangers, One of Chile’s great icon wines is back in stock, at a fantastic price! Frankly, we hadn’t see many bottles of Almaviva in the states for years as there seemed to be a bit of a struggle with the winery caught in ‘big brand’ distribution channels although it is known for […]

To all Wine Exchangers,  “He has really hit a home run…”-Robert Parker After continuously meriting the laudatory reviews on a variety of his wines over the years (including the one above), we’ve come to the delicious conclusion that Jean-Marc Lafage is an unbelievable, unbeatable source for exciting, well-priced wines. In sports one might say, "You […]

To all Wine Exchangers, The revolution continues. There is so much going on in South America right now that our heads are literally on a swivel as we get pelted with one remarkable sub-$20 wine after another. Chile’s woken up, and they’re making up for lost time…in a big way. Take these wines from Alchemy. […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Just when we thought they couldn’t do any better… Last September we sold a huge chunk of Monsanto’s 2010 Riserva Chianti Classico, heralding it as one of the finest sub-$20 Chianti wines in the market, and who could argue with the fantastic press the wine received across the board, making it, […]

To all Wine Exchangers, “As for the wines, they are gorgeous. At the end of the day, that is what counts.” – Antonio Galloni Just when you think you’re doing everything right, there’s someone out there that’s looking to rain on your parade. Poor Kevin Law. This guy has been through the meat-grinder when it […]

To all Wine Exchangers, “Argiano’s 2010 is unquestionably a winner.” – Antonio Galloni “Best ever from here.” – James Suckling “Argiano continues to make some of the best Brunello on the market today.” – Monica Larner Look what we found! Ok, we have to be honest, we buy and sell a lot of wine and, […]

In our last piece we rattled on about all the things beyond your control that can have an effect on your enjoyment of a wine on any given day.  Things like the biodynamic calendar, barometric pressure, and altitude are just a few variables that can make a wine taste differently on one day versus another.  […]