***   WARNING  ***

Guest post (and first blog post ever) by someone who has no inkling of what they are doing!

For the past 9 months or so, I have been perusing the wine recommendations circulated by K&L wines (www.klwines.com).  This is a local wine shop that has what the Wall Street Journal called the best wine web site in the US – yet another reason we are so happy to be living in California!

My strategy has been to pick out various interesting wines that came with strong recommendations and give them a try – if I like them, I buy a few bottles for the cellar.  This has  led to some very nice and drinkable under $20/bottle wines, but so far only a few knock-outs.

Last night I opened a bottle of the 2007 Saxon Brown “Flora Ranch” Chalk Hill Syrah that I picked up based on some pretty strong reviews (http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1086232).  Maybe it just went perfectly with the Asian Beef leftovers, but I thought this was a fantastic wine.  It has a spicy nose with layers of fruit that were complemented by a broader palate of flavors that added to the complexity.

Before ending this inaugural blog post (who know when I will do this again??), a quick mention of Wrath.  Kathryn and I took our first trip down to the Santa Lucia Highlands area between Salinas and Soledad last weekend, and the clear standout of the wineries we visited in our semi-random wanderings was Wrath.  They make some excellent Pinots that are definitely worth trying if you can find them.  SLH has a long ways to go before it can compete with Paso Robles or Sonoma/Napa, but Wrath is definitely worth the detour if you are driving between the bay area and Paso Robles.

Richard P.