Binny's Beverage Depot

Mar 12 2010

Brag to Me

A funny thing about being in retail wine sales is that one is often given the opportunity to taste wine, but it's always what is currently available, which means it's almost always young. A big part of being able to appreciate wine is understanding time and its affects, which can only come from experience, and experience can be scarce when one is exposed only...

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0 comments - Posted by Greg Versch at 5:50 PM - Categories: Wine

Mar 5 2010

Tasting Blind, and Noval Black

This new non-vintage Port is a great example of the style for less than $20. The nose is standard for fortified wine: lots of alcohol along with candied cherry and plum, hints of herbal notes and maybe mineral, like pencil lead. On the palate, though, the wine explodes: A serious...

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0 comments - Posted by Greg Versch at 12:41 PM - Categories: Wine

Feb 24 2010

Green Wine: Biodynamic Farming

As part of our ongoing discussion on green wine, let's take a look at a growing (and controversial) category: biodynamics. The common understanding, or at least my understanding from about two months ago, is that biodynamic farming is “organic plus.” ...

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3 comments - Posted by Greg Versch at 6:20 PM - Categories: Wine

Feb 10 2010

What's in a Vintage?

I was heading home one day when Steve, a wine guy at the Skokie Binny's, handed me a bottle of 2008 Steeple Jack Shiraz. He said it was the best six dollars I could spend on wine. The recommendation came with a warning, though: he told me not to expect the simple cherry pie filling standard in Australian shiraz at that price. I bought one (for six bucks, why not?)....

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2 comments - Posted by Greg Versch at 4:30 PM - Categories: Wine

Jan 30 2010

Green Wine: Organic Certification and Labeling

As part of our ongoing discussion on green wine, let's take a look at the legal definitions of different kinds of organic wine, to get a more clear understanding. As mentioned on the Binny's Wine Blog before, the term "organic" is often ...

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0 comments - Posted by Greg Versch at 4:33 PM - Categories: Wine

Jan 28 2010

2007 Bordeaux

Bordeaux accounts for about a quarter of the wines I have in my cellar. It's my first love. The Union des Grand Crus 2007 Bordeaux tasting was earlier this week, and it's always great to...

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5 comments - Posted by Jon Bernardoni at 5:39 PM - Categories: Wine

Jan 21 2010

Too Many SVs?

Early last week I had the chance to taste – among many other wines – a flight of three single-vineyard 2008 pinot noir offerings from cult pinot producer Ken Wright. Each vintage sees a release of a slew of single-vineyard releases from Ken Wright; Binny's picked up ten unique bottlings in the 2008 vintage alone....

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1 comments - Posted by Greg Versch at 11:43 AM - Categories: Wine

Category: Wine

Brag to Me

Tasting Blind, and Noval Black

Green Wine: Biodynamic Farming

What's in a Vintage?

Green Wine: Organic Certification and Labeling

2007 Bordeaux

Too Many SVs?