Review Archives

November 11, 2019September 25, 2026

Arrowood Vineyards

Arrowood Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon and Arrowood Sonoma County Chardonnay. Click here for tasting notes.

Arrowood Vineyards

Arrowood Vineyards was founded by Richard and Alis Arrowood, the culmination of what up until then had been twenty-one years of winemaking.

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November 11, 2019September 6, 2026

Although Napa Valley is considered by many to be California’s preeminent winemaking region, Sonoma County just to the west offers many pleasures as well, particularly the wines from Alexander Valley, which is one of my personal favorite regions.

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August 8, 2019October 13, 2026

Philipponnat Champagne

Philipponnat Brut Royal Reserve Champagne

Philipponnat is one of Champagne’s most historically significant houses—famous among collectors, sommeliers, and serious Champagne lovers.

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Although you will see vintage dates throughout Winervana, I don’t put too much importance on them. Major producers these days strive for a consistent style, and largely succeed. (Especially in California, aided by the usually even climate there.) For instance, when shopping for a particular wine, if you have a choice between a current release and one that’s a few years old, there will certainly be differences in price and the character of the wine. But upon release, those two examples of the same wine are likely to be quite similar, especially for New World producers, who often enjoy more reliably consistent weather than Old World producers do. (Of course, global climate change may disrupt things for everybody.)

Wine Enthusiast has an interesting post about this here.