> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.knowledge.wine/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # October & November 2024 Delectable Reviews - URL: https://www.knowledge.wine/october-november-2024-delectable-reviews/ - Published: 2025-06-15T22:46:45.000Z - Updated: 2025-09-12T15:31:01.000Z - Author: Vasanth Balakrishnan - Tags: Delectable With the holidays and work I’ve really fallen behind on my posts. I’m making a sprint to catch up before the summer really ramps up though it’s already 90°F plus in Houston now. --- [Cru Beaujolais](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaujolais?ref=knowledge.wine#Beaujolais%5Fcrus), in my experience is reliably delicious and yet the various villages do have their distinct expressions of their terroir. The Wikipedia article does a great job deciphering the 10 villages. --- Domestic US Chenin Blanc is criminally underrated as it can maintain acidity even in a hot climate such as typical California regions, though this delicious example is in a very cool location. With climate change, expect Chenin Blanc to continue to grow, though it will not make a full comeback from its [volume peak in the early 1980s](https://capstonecalifornia.com/study-guides/varieties/white/chenin%5Fblanc/history?ref=knowledge.wine) with lakes of low-quality Chenin. This producer shows what Chenin can achieve in the right location with a skilled winemaker. --- For the under $20 price point Bordeaux offers some excellent values, especially with a few years of bottle age. --- [Postino](https://www.postinowinecafe.com/locations?ref=knowledge.wine) is a growing almost-national chain of wine bar & bites restaurants. We've found that they are consistently delicious with a great wine list that changes a bit during the seasons to keep things interesting, offering lovely wine discoveries such as this bottle. --- Italian Super Tuscan blends are probably one of my favorite food-friendly red wines and this is from the same producer as the famous [Sassicaia ](https://www.tenutasanguido.com/en/wines?ref=knowledge.wine)wine. --- Several of my friends and families simply aren't Pinot Noir fans and I'm not surprised as I've found the mass-market grocery store brands are very manipulated "oak-joke" wines. This, however is a great producer and I got a pretty good bottle price at one of my online discount wine clubs. --- Most of the famous Bordeaux château offer a "[Second Wine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second%5Fwine?ref=knowledge.wine)" at a much more reasonable price which represents a relatively good value, especially if you aren't intending to age them for decades or chasing trophy wines. --- We have a local winery and club that was introduced to us at an event by a close friend. We joined the club for a few years but after a while I found their wines just weren't that exciting for the asking prices. --- If you see Ridge wines in a retail store or online, don't think about it, just buy it. They will be fantastic. This was a spectacular Chardonnay we enjoyed on a date night for my birthday at [Tatemó](https://www.tatemohtx.com/?ref=knowledge.wine). I'm glad my wife booked this excellent tiny tortilla-centered restaurant before it went on win a Michelin Star. Now reservations are predictably very difficult to get. --- [Bandol ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provence%5Fwine?ref=knowledge.wine#Bandol)is one of the many overlooked French wine regions to the casual American drinker. I don't know if I want the secret to get out because not only is it some of the best rosé wines on the planet, but the red wines are beautifully complex and balanced. --- A mark of a good Sonoma County producer is making a balanced, enjoyable Cab in a hellishly hot, fire-scarred year like 2020. --- Surely this is not as brilliant as this famous producer's Barolo but it was also far more reasonably priced at a posh River Oaks district Italian restaurant price list. --- In Houston-area wine lists, the word is getting out on Albariño, especially in our hot humid summers. --- Usually bubbles in what's supposed to be a still wine is considered a wine fault but in this case it was still delicious. If you look closely at the bottle picture some small bubbles are visible at the top. --- On occasion you just have to spring for Champagne. It's always interesting to try the smaller producers that often deliver superior QPR compared to the big houses. --- I won this bottle at a raffle for a corporate-sponsored golf tournament event a couple of years ago. It seems the hot 2020 vintage resulted in a wine without enough acidity. I've read in wine magazines that 2020 Napa Valley reds, with sometimes smoke-tainted wine and the incredibly hot vintage is a bit of a dice-roll. Be wary of what may seem like a bargain.