4/2/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

For $6 at Trader Joe’s, there’s great value here. Plenty of the hallmark Provençal rosé flavors with nice lift. Nothing in the least fancy, but as a summer quaffer, we’re big fans. With the rosé world on the lower end being such a disappointment the last few years, we’re fine just grabbing this.

Had with April Bloomfield lamb burgers, sheep feta, and cumin mayo. Happy stuff.

3/30/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

We could drink buckets of this. After having it at Standard Pizza in Berlin a couple of years ago, it's been a house love, when we can find it. Oodles of acid, fleshy fruits, touch of minerality...but it's really about the sunny refreshment in the glass here. Puckers and pops. Slides right into the Gavi and pecorino wine world of Italian white wines that love orecchiette with sausage and rapini, a twice a month thing for us. Swapped out the sausage for leftover roast chicken and it played in the same delicious, satisfying realms. ($11 - Eataly)

4/1/2019 - Christo P. Ney wrote:

Pleasant. But never wandering out of that. Lovely nose of chocolate, smoke, berries and earth. On the palate though, it didn't make me want to reach for it with any compulsion or anticipation. Pleasant quaffer and decent QPR, but didn't excite. Still a touch young.

Had with flap meat, red churrasco, and spinach/sweet potato empanadas. ($14 - Vin)

3/28/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

I’d like to try it again, as we were a bottle and a couple of cocktails in before getting to this. Nice talc, salt, bright yet a bit broody fruit, and a fine tick-took right down the chain.

Had at Pacific Standard Time for Pok Pok pop-up. Much better interplay than Minimus #22 Pinot. ($60 - nice price for a resto wine list as well)

3/26/2019 - Christo P. Ney wrote:

Huge Chad Stock fan, but this one felt tired. More interesting to think about, with this blend, than drink. Fleshy, cloudy, all the natural hallmarks, but a bit flat and little excitement at the second and third level. Drank before we paired it with the spiciness of the food, with the same result. Figured the gris with the food would help, but it didn’t.

Had at Pacific Standard Time for the Pok Pok pop-up. ($80)

3/5/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Mud-covered fall leaves and booze-soaked cherries here, with a fine softness and age. Lil touches of cola and root beer, with flavors and length ticking down in an admirable order while never becomes boring.

Had with lamb vindaloo, parathas, and raita. Vindaloo was a blast furnace of spice, but the wine held up well enough. ($45 - Winery)

3/5/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

For $20 (Whole Foods), a near-perfect pre-dinner bubbly, when entry-level Champagne seems too pricey for the moment. Soft, dry, snappy, friendly, and wants to be liked in the best sense. Bit of apple and lemon, with just the right touch of yeasty notes. Chardonnay in roundhness, but doesn't yell, "I'm chardonnay!" in the least bit. Reminded us a lil bit of sparkling falanghina, without the white flowers. Would and will buy again.

3/4/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

A beautiful Champagne that needed some time for the fruit to peer out from around the corner. Plenty of mineral, wisps of ginger, a touch of white flowers and hard push-up of acid. Lovely. A real presence. Loved the mousse.

Had with rabbit and Sicilian fennel-blood orange salad. Two people that didn't really want to delve too deep into conversation, but plenty of chuckles and head nods to go around. ($90 - Binny's)

2/24/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Always a favorite and it LOVES food. 72% vermentino and 28% muscat. This year, the vermentino has a Sardinian funky farmer quality and the muscat is a bit musky, with all of that cleaned up by the bubbles and acid cut. I swear one year was 100% vermentino (maybe a 1/2 batch), but I could be wrong. If Brianne Day makes it, just buy it.

Had at Herb Thai with Tapiz Torrontés Extra Brut. The Mamacita won the night. ($24 - Vin)

2/24/2019 - Christo P. Ney wrote:

Toss a dirt-covered lime on a fire for 10 seconds, sloppily juice it, add a drop of orange blossom water, throw in two Pop Rocks, bubble all of that up. Cleaner than that description, but it's close. Nothing to dislike, really, but didn't leave much of an impression.

Had at Herb Thai with '17 Day Mamacita. Mamacita won the night, as per usual. ($20 - Heinen's)

2/19/2019 - Christo P. Ney wrote:

Pleasing apple (wandering into baked apple), Meyer lemon, and mineral; clean with a pleasing texture. But a bit on the generic side. Liked its Frenchy-ness, but no real uniqueness, swerve, or surprise as it went down.

Had with Zuni roast chicken, Balkan bread, currants, and asparagus. Fine enough. ($25 - Cellar d'Or)

2/17/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Bone. Dry. And delicious, even young. Fruit really buried here, more of a raw, crisp, cold root vegetable and salt feel, with some pear deep down. Savory as heck and a wee touch of fleshier texture. Pepe Raventós’ nod to his favorite natural wines and he nailed it. Big fans. More needed.

Had with ham and cheese croquetas, pan con tomate, and pea shoot-avocado salad. Liked each other in broadly Spanishy ways. ($22 - Binny’s)

1/20/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Fresh and light to start, with an underlying seriousness, darkness, and punch that creeps up from behind. Shiny strawberries, strong mousse, and ice-water-on-a-hot-day refreshment, with good grip and a bit of kir to finish.

Had with croque monsieur and madame with extra frites at Bistro Campagne. Very happy stuff. ($50)

2/12/2019 - Christo P. Ney wrote:

Cherry and cranberry, a bit of brush and herbs. Simple, a touch short, but a reasonable quaffer. Rusty finish without food, but smoothed out with it.

Had a bottle from draft at Passerotto, with lamb ragu, two chicken thighs, and short ribs for two. Fine enough, but missed on offering more of a distinct personality outside of friendly red juice. ($52)

2/11/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Just a bit more salty mineral and this is better than most Rías Baixas Albariño, including many single-vineyard/high-enders. Round, fuller-bodied, yet crisp, oddly lithe, and bouncy. High level of craft and understanding of what makes Albariño so goshdarn delicious.

Had with sea bass, freekah, and fava. Not perfect together, but oh-so close. ($28 - Vin)

2/5/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

One of our favorite wines of 2017, it's showing its age now, as it should. Losing its bubble and pop, but the settling fruit came off like a weird genius from Jurançon was messing around with styles. Stewy, but not sappy or tired, more fresh baked with wildly interesting depth while still bringing a fight. Wouldn't do it again, but...we were just fine here.

Had with tuna Niçoise. ($30 - Vin)

2/3/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Comes off a touch muted at first, but picks up steam with food, bringing mineral and zing to its herby, smoked lemon and quince notes. Not a ton of length but a happy companion at the table, and a fine switch-up for spicy, fish sauce-based vittles.

Had with Asian-y ribs, fish sauce and rice. Delicious. ($25 - Cellar d'Or)

1/30/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

A bargain house workhorse when grizzle and cut is needed to plow through fatty red meat deliciousness.

Savory when it needs to be, fruity pow when asked to be. Big dark fruits, concentrated, meaty, always a surprising brushy note, and always nice lift. One of the few American red blends that gets it right year after year, while remaining cheap enough to buy year after year.

Had with New Zealand beef hand pies and arugula salad, during the "Polar Vortex!' Happy, comforting, perfect. ($16 - Vin)

1/29/2019 - Christo P. Ney wrote:

Textbook malbec. Meaty, toasty, big dark berry fruits, round when it needed to be, fine length. Like a dry American zin from a cool vintage.

Had with flap meat, chimichurri and yuca fries. Served well enough in getting to the South American feel we wanted. ($27 - Binny's)

1/29/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

NEEDS food. French farmer deliciousness. Butterscotchy, salty, honeysuckle, bitter, smoked lemons, bit of 10W30, all with enough acid to keep things chugging along nicely.

Had with Jeremiah Tower roast chicken, watercress and radish sprouts. The salty-bitter matchup let everything else loosen up and fall into place. Big fans. ($25 - Perman)

1/22/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Big blueberry punch with a fresh well water note. Lighter body, but a persistence that holds firm through a quite long finish. Distinctive, always interesting, and enjoyable. Its naturalness (i.e. freshy-freshness), oddly, gave it a firm backbone that admirably stood up to this night's food, constantly diving in and popping back up on a bite and sip, never getting swallowed up or toned down.

Had with Dana Dávila's chiles rellenos, stuffed with duck-pork-beef, and baby zucchini. A fine one-off. ($28 - Diversey Wine)

1/20/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Much to enjoy here. Pleasing tart apple-lemon notes that stay out of the realm of generic and its Champagne veneer bring a spunkiness and jump, making up for a mousse that wouldn't be called the most vibrant. At $45 (Whole Foods), it's not the best QPR in our book, but it would hold its own in a Champers-under-$50 taste-off.

Pre-dinner bubbles with Tokyo curry rice nuggets.

1/20/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Light and easy for a retsina, with rosemary oil and lemon peel, even a touch nutty. Tasty, pleasant, and for $9 (Binny's), a steal.

Had with Ottolenghi lamb rosettes marinated in lemon and thyme; roasted almond-orange blossom-coriander sauce, pea shoots, and Aleppo za'atar focaccia. Tough pairing and this one captured everything like a big bossman.

1/15/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Concentrated dark berry notes, meat char and licorice, with enough acid to make this one a happy-slappy one-off. Came off like it used to be a big ‘un, but has settled in its late middle-aged years with grace and prudence.

Had with beef cheeks and chickpea purée. This wine had been sitting around for awhile, lost in the shuffle due to our non-red-drinking ways the last few years. With the meal, food that usually loves Vale Meão so much, this one found a very nice home. Loved the fennel in the braise. ($43 - Vin)

1/14/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Lovely, mature, grizzly notes of gamey duck/quail, full of umami. Huge nose of fresh tobacco, newly charred wood, settling dark berry frame. This one isn't long for this world, but wildly interesting example of secondary/tertiary notes fully taking the wheel. Utter surprise.

Had with mac-n-cheese. Strangely great. ($57 - Benchmark)

1/13/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

One of our favorite off-dry QPR whites. Brings texture and a light impression of sweetness to bouncy stone fruits and citrus, with formidable acid that lets it to play nicely with food that has punch in many forms. Fills a food pairing niche at a great price. We always crave it.

Had with jerk chicken, Kewpie, bread and salad. This jerk brought the heat more than most, which pushed the limits of this off-dry style, chipping away at its roundness and depth, but we were happy enough. ($18 - Vin)

1/7/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Briny, grassy, limey, minty, lemony, stone fruity, all that y-goodness. Beautiful acid, long finish, pretty as all get-out. Really, it’s the only albariño we want. The under-$20 albariño world can be a crapshoot. More spendy, single-vineyard ones, many times, come off too polished and a tad delicate with food. Albariño should have some grizzle mixed with the sparkle. This one has that and more. Summertime in a glass.

Had with Ottolenghi cod cakes in tomato sauce, rice and mint. Perfect. ($20 - A’ville Liquors)

1/6/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Probably my favorite wine of last year. Perfectly straight-forward and itself. No fluff, no muss. A touch of cream running through orchard fruit with little jumps of tropical fruit, and a persistent vein of acid from beginning to end that says, "Bring on the food. I can take on anything." I'll drink anything Brianne Day makes, and this one was a one-off. She's not getting grapes from this site again.

Had twice at Passerotto. This time, with fried halloumi, kumato-avocado-arugula salad and bread. Wasn't perfect, as halloumi can be finicky, but it most certainly didn't NOT go. We loved it. ($22 - winery)

1/4/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Signature wholly finish of chenin blanc, but this could be a blend (been sitting around awhile, with poor initial notes). Much to like here, with proper check-offs all the way down the chain. Orchard fruit basket, happy lift, lovely length, wholly finish. If I were given this as a pre-dinner beverage, I'd be very pleased.

Had with shrimp "paella-curry" with pea shoots, from '660 Curries." Fit right in. ($20-ish - Vin)

1/3/2019 - Christo P. Ney wrote:

Still life here, with plenty to offer of its former self. Apricot, pears and slate bouncing off each other, with some rubber bookending things. Pleasant. Like late-stage Michael Jordan in Charlotte, where he was still occasionally doing Jordan-y type things. Felt like it would have been more at home in a cheese course, with '09 and '11 vintages of riesling kabinett, to show just how wild the 2010 acid was in comparison.

But with Sean Brock rabbit stew and dumplings, it missed on providing bounce, weave, dart and dunk. ($25 - WDC)

1/2/2019 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

A touch viscous, with the herbaceous quality of a Savoie. Light green fruits, with touches of rosemary and sage. Acid holding up the ship well enough, with very delicate minerals darting in and out. As if a quality, bargain trebbiano and a Savoie had a baby. Nice. First nascetta.

Had at Oceanique. ($80)

12/30/2018 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Very clean, with concentrated dark red fruits and tickles of tobacco and cinnamon. Chianti with American spit-shine. Never sappy, though certainly ripe, but polished and stays light on its feet. Acid starting its descent but still utterly drinkable.

Had with stuffed shells with arrabbiata sauce. Would do this pairing again. $22 Gene's

12/26/2018 - Christo P. Ney Likes this wine:

Lovely space and grace here. Took its time revealing everything. Pear-green apple-peach. Sturdy acidity that never bullied. Wisps of pie crust. Nice, fine minerals. It's chardonnay for people who could take or leave chardonnay...mostly leave. First of the nine Christmas aligotés.

Had with roast chicken and 40 cloves of garlic, bread and salad. Delicious! Loves garlic! ($25 HDH)