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 Welcome to The Wine Source, Baltimore's premier one-stop-shop for all your beverage, cheese, and specialty food needs. We've been recognized repeatedly for our selection, service, and product knowledge; we strive to make your shopping experience both stress-free and enjoyable! Conveniently located off Rt. 83 in Hampden, we also offer free next day delivery throughout Baltimore City.
 Our staff of experienced professionals personally tastes each and every product on our shelves to ensure quality and value. Whether you're seeking a specialty or local beer, an exotic liqueur or high quality spirit, a handcrafted or familiar brand wine, or an imported or domestic artisanal cheese, we offer practical and understandable advice and an outstanding selection that guarantees the product to suit your needs.
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Wines of the Week
Palmina: Don't Call it 'Cal-Ital'...
Cal-Ital: California wines produced from Italian varietals. The movement started in the 80’s by California winemakers, many with Italian heritage (see Seghesio, Mondavi, Coppola, Martini, etc.), who were seeking to replicate the famous wines of their Italian ancestors.
Seems like the idea had some promise considering the climates of Italy and California share some similarities and Americans were already consuming plenty of Chianti, but all too often the result was full bodied, fruit forward wines bearing little or no resemblance to their Italian brethren.
With this state of mind, when the time came to taste through the wines of Palmina, I was primed to dismiss them as another weak attempt by a California winery to imitate the great Italian wines. Instead, I was taken aback at the quality of these wines and the resemblance to their Italian counterparts. While retaining a decidedly California style, these wines capture so many of the things I love about the great wines of Piedmont. Structured, balanced and light on their feet, without sacrificing depth of flavor and concentration, these wines are made to be consumed with food. So yes, they are California wines produced from Italian varietals, but they are anything but the typical Cal-Ital style, so don’t call them that.
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Paul Cudone's 2007 Bordeaux Report...
 Click Here to Read the Entire Report!(PDF)  |