Two Reds

“Fairly rich in fruit, yet decidedly dry from entry through finish…”

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In a previous life in retail wine sales, customers would regularly ask me if I could meet or beat Costco pricing for specific wines, and my stock reply was always that, while I couldn’t match their prices, I had so many more selections to offer that the bulk store didn’t even carry. It was true, and most of my clients got the message. Conversely, however, Costco has always (and still does) carried some very worthwhile selections at very good prices.

I happened upon a couple of those good red wines in the last week. One is a Cru Beaujolais and the other, a Zin from California, and, yes, I found them both at our friendly neighborhood Costco.

We’ve been fans of the wines from Kermit Lynch’s Morgon producers such as Jean Foillard and Guy Breton for many years, but this is my first encounter with Domaine Fagolet, and although I tend to be a bit suspicious of bottles sporting a high rating on the front label, I am pleased with what I found when I poured a glass of this one.
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2020 Geezer

“A delicious and beautifully balanced wine in every way…”

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I don’t normally write a review from memory, but this wine is so impressive, it pretty much wrote itself. The occasion was a long overdue renewal of acquaintances with our friends Jim and Cheryl Brennan. The location was Mon Jin Lau, arguably the finest Asian-fusion restaurant (they call it “Nu-Asian”) in southeastern Michigan. The wine was one that we’ve had a decades-long love affair with, the perennial favorite Ridge Geyserville. I had taken a gander at the wine list before handing it off to Jim to see if anything caught his eye, and when he mentioned this, that was all any of us needed to hear.
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A Ridge for the Forest

“…drinking so well right now, it’s hard not to pull another cork…”

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Now that I’m completely recovered from Electric Forest, it’s time for me to get back to blogging about wine. For the uninitiated, Electric Forest is a four-day music festival held in Rothbury, Michigan in late June. It features mostly (but not entirely) electronic music and jam bands, and has been held every summer since 2011, when, Phoenix-like, it rose from the ashes of the great Rothbury festivals of 2008 and 2009. My co-pilot for these adventures during these last several years has been our old Gang of Pour accomplice, Alan Kerr. The night before heading off for this year’s event, Kerr, Kim and this taster enjoyed some good food and a few bottles of wine. As was so often the case back in our Gang days, it was the Ridge Zin that really caught our attention. 
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