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New articles every week. Whether you're looking to understand a specific wine term, discover a grape variety you've never heard of, or find an affordable bottle worth trying, the EverWonderWine blog has been tackling those questions one article at a time for over a decade.
You'll find two types of posts here. The educational articles cover everything from the basics — acidity, tannin, sweetness, body — to deeper dives into specific grapes, regions, and winemaking techniques, including the ongoing Tour of Wine Grapes series. The Behind the Cork™ posts are honest, no-nonsense reviews of affordable, everyday wines: what they taste like, where they come from, and whether they're worth your money. There's always something new to explore.
2012 Rodney Strong Chalk Hill Sonoma Chardonnay ($15)
This is an "Estate" wine meaning that Rodney Strong grew the grapes, crushed them, fermented, aged and bottle the wine. This Chardonnay has the nice fruit flavors of golden delicious apple and Meyer lemon along with spicy notes of vanilla from its oak aging. You'd expect to pay a lot more for an Estate Chardonnay of this quality. Yet another great value.
Lyeth 2013 Meritage ($10)
This Meritage from Lyeth is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The name "Meritage" was created in 1988 when U.S. wine makers decided to form an alliance and a name for their blended wines. By blending the words 'Merit' for having worth, and 'Heritage' for the Bordeaux style of wine making, they created a new word, Meritage. But instead of making this blend sound like a French wine, they insisted that Meritage be pronounced like the word heritage. This Meritage from Lyeth is a nice example of a traditional Bordeaux blend.