San Pasqual Winery offers a slow pour

Tasting room is steady as she goes in laid-back La Mesa

If you're looking for a high-energy, trendy wine bar, San Pasqual Winery's Tasting Room may not be your best bet. The small business in La Mesa's Downtown Village (8364 La Mesa Blvd.) takes on the

Friday, May 17,2013
Bottle Rocket

Summer marks Sauvignon Blanc season

A tale of two twist-offs: the 2012 Babich and the 2011 Fish House

By Jen Van Tieghem

As summer has come knocking hard, I thought it time to find a wine to welcome this aggressive guest. In my constant quest for white wines that are both refreshing and full of flavor, I decided to compare a couple of my favorite varietal: Sauvignon Blanc.

Friday, April 26,2013
Bottle Rocket

Turquoise Cellars is a pleasant surprise in Pacific Beach

Wine lovers have a new neighborhood to visit

By Jen Van Tieghem

Beyond beach babes and beer bros, Pacific Beach suits limited walks of life. Since sunshine disagrees with my pale skin and I'm allergic to reggae, I don't head there often. However, after a friend's mention of Turquoise Cellars, I made an exception.

Saturday, April 6,2013
Bottle Rocket

Bitch wine brings too much bite

Why you shouldn’t buy a bottle based on a label

By Jen Van Tieghem

It’s obvious to anyone who knows me why I bought this bottle of wine—a pretty pink label with hearts on it.

Monday, March 18,2013
Bottle Rocket

Dessert in a bottle

Confectioner’s Chocolate is a perfect red wine / cocoa mashup

By Jen Van Tieghem

Simply named Confectioner's Chocolate, the under-$10 price tag was immediately appealing, the label's boast of dark-chocolate flavor promising.

Friday, March 8,2013
Bottle Rocket

Proprietor’s Reserve Wine Bar brings variety to Normal Heights

Small wine bar offers big selection by the bottle or glass

By Jen Van Tieghem

Proprietor's Reserve Wine Bar (4711 34th St.) found a quaint home on the edge of Normal Heights tucked off Adams Avenue. The small space is well-stocked and offers seating for a couple dozen patrons.

Friday, February 15,2013
Bottle Rocket

Sipping Smoking Loon’s Steelbird Chardonnay

Life is better without butter

By Jen Van Tieghem

I spent the first couple of my wine-drinking years believing that I hated white wine. Drinking the rich, buttery Chardonnay my mom enjoyed was as appealing to me as a root canal.

Friday, January 25,2013
Bottle Rocket

Being early pays off at The Wine Lover

Hillcrest vino bungalow is a great place to kill some time

By Anders Wright

It happens now and again. I have a movie to see and time to kill beforehand. In one recent case, I was an hour early for a press screening of Stoker, the first English-language film from Korean auteur Park Chan-wook, at Hillcrest Cinemas.

Monday, January 7,2013
Bottle Rocket

Ringing in the new year with La Marca Prosecco

An Italian alternative to white wine

By Anders Wright

When I was a kid, one of my annual aspirations was to stay up all the way to midnight on New Year’s Eve. It was a pretty big deal for me, a sort of harbinger of adulthood, and I was lucky enough to be around adults who would usually let me do so.

Monday, December 17,2012
Bottle Rocket

Merry Italian Jewish Christmas

These red wines will go with any religious holiday

By Anders Wright

It took a moment, once my editor had jokingly spit-balled the idea of writing a Jew’s take on wines to drink at Christmas, to realize that he was, in fact, talking about me.