Sails Restaurant @ the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas

The Sails Restaurant @ the Ritz Carlton, located at a breathtaking property on the southeast side of Saint Thomas at Great Bay is one of those special restaurants that we have had the good fortune to discover in our travels. Fresh seafood hours off the boat is offered in a casual resort atmosphere nestled between beach and pool. Mussa Bey, the chef, presents a seafood centric menu with both skill and enthusiasm. Dinner is exclusive to Tuesday & Saturday evenings, presenting great focus and staff attention as the sun sets and casual fine dining commences. If you find yourself on St. Thomas, don't miss this one and tell them RJKirk@BoutiqueReds.com sent you, Cheers!

2014 Outpost True Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

With the 2014 vintage of their True Vineyard Cabernet Outpost Wines has produced what we consider a perfect wine and as confirmed by Robert Parker of the wine advocate. Congratulations to the Dotzlers and Thomas Rivers Brown! As we sip this 2014 True Vineyard Cabernet at Café 1853, we again note the big intense fruit, complexity and soft tannins with lingering finish matching our palate to a tee. Indeed, this release has achieved another level with perfect balance through the entire tasting spectrum. As always, all the best and Cheers! RJKirk

2013 Vineyard 29 Estate & Del Dotto St Helena 887 Tasting

Tonight at BoutiqueReds.com with good friends we present a dual tasting of 2013 Vineyard 29 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and 2013 Del Dotto St. Helena 887 Cabernet. What would your favorite be, depends on your individual palate but very generally the Vineyard 29 is a bit more balanced and refined while the Del Dotto 887 is big dominant fruit forward; both striking examples of what was possible from the 2013 Napa vintage. Enjoying these fine wines brought back memories of our visit last year to their Napa Valley locations… All the best and Cheers! RJKirk

Turnbull Wine Cellars St Helena

Turnbull Wine Cellars is a perfect model for creating limited production wines of exceptional quality and value. They are a small, family-owned, multi-generation business with the long view in mind; controlling their vision from vineyard to bottle produces results that place them at the top list of wine expert accolades and make then a must visit when enjoying the Napa Valley. Their tasting room ambience is casual, inviting and attentive, an experience that compliments their highly enjoyable wines that are well expert rated across their entire line-up. Our current favorites are the 2013 Black Label and 2013 Pierra Cabernets that we feature here. Cheers! RJKirk

Long Shadows Vintners Tasting Room Woodinville

The Long Shadows project is the brain child of Allen Shoup of St . Michelle Fame. The concept was to use Napa and internationally renowned winemakers to produce 7 exceptional wines of multiple varietals using Columbia Valley grape sources; the result have been nothing short of spectacular. Our personal favorites are Feather by winemaker Randy Dunn of Dunn Vineyards in Howell Mountains and Pirouette, a joint-effort of Philippe Melka, of Napa Midas touch reputation and Agustin Huneeus, Sr. of legendary America’s prominence. Cheers! RJKirk

Del Dotto Vineyards St. Helena

While dining at Carmines Bellevue on Valentine's Day we opened a bottle of 2014 Del Dotto St. Helena Family Reserve Block 2 and were reminded of the several tasting experiences enjoyed at their wineries in Napa which you can enjoy vicariously through this video. All of Del Dotto's wines are powerful and elegant examples of the results that various outstanding wine source terroirs and wine making expertise are capable of producing. This particular example received a score of 98 from Robert Parker. So sit back and enjoy the show! All the best and cheers! RJKirk

North Block Hotel Yountville

When we visit the Napa Valley for wine tasting and reviews, we like to stay at the North Block, a boutique hotel located at the north end of Yountville, close to many of our favorite wineries. Enjoy this video review of their grounds, accommodations, staff and amenities and tell them RJKirk sent you. Cheers!