Welcome to my site, Whole Bottle Reviews!

My name is John Alanis, and I’m a Certified Sommelier from Georgetown, Texas. I created this site because the wine industry strangely neglects the real reason we enjoy fine wine so much…the experience.  It’s not about the fermented grape juice in the bottle, it’s about the EXPERIENCE it brings you, and I am going to show you how to have the ultimate wine experience.

Fine Wine is the only beverage that changes and evolves as you go through the bottle, and with a bottle of fine wine, the first and last sip are completely different, with an amazing journey in between.

It takes you to a different place, takes you on an emotional journey, brings up long forgotten memories and stories of a better time and place. But you don’t know until you go through a whole bottle, either by yourself or with good friends.

Some bottles start out great and fade, some take a glass to get going, and then WOW- an indescribable experience.  The wine creates the experience, the experience enhances the wine.

Most people only have a few wine experiences in their lifetime and they never forget them. I want to help you have more than a few. That’s why I created my site.

I firmly believe “taste and spit reviews” do not capture the essence of wine. They all sound the same after awhile, and they never mention the emotional experience of the wine.  That’s what I’m going to talk about on my site, the emotional experience of wine, the journey it takes you on, the feelings it brings up.  Or, in the case of many wines, no experience at all.

Here’s how my site works:  Once a week, I’ll do one Whole Bottle Review for you.
About 70% of the time, I’ll do one high end bottle I think can be magical, one that’s easy to get- I’ll give you my immediate reaction, my on the spot sip and swallow review, plus my prediction.

Then after I recover from my hangover, I’ll, follow up with my Whole Bottle Review, both written and on video, and let you know what happened as I went through the bottle, if it was magical or not. I’ll also recommend several similar wines of varying price points to try so you’ll always have a full wine list at your disposal.

The other 30% of the time, I’ll choose a $70 or so bottle that’s a great introduction to wine styles and regions you might not be familiar with, but do produce magical bottles of wine. Part of the magic of wine is trying styles and regions you had no idea even existed. What’s always been frustrating to me is there is no existing pathway to start into different styles of wine, different regions. No one tells you hey, drink this bottle first, then that one, and so on. I’ll present you with a great introduction to a particular region- like say, Priorat is Spain or Hermitage in Northern Rhone- and tell you what specific wines I think you should try from those regions.

One more thing- wine is supposed to be FUN and REAL, and we’ll be both.  This is wine entertainment, not boring ass wine education. We’re not going to get lost in acids and tannins and Brix levels and hillside aspects that just put you to sleep.  We’re going to get lost in the magic and fun of the wine- leave the technical stuff to me.

Every now and then, I’ll also do cool videos about high end whiskies, craft cocktails, whole glass reviews etc.  Now, my site is about fine wine and fine spirits, not daily drinkers or grocery store wine.  It’s not about weird wines or natty wines or geek wines.  It’s about those high end wines that give you amazing experiences when you go through the bottle- you’re not going to get that from a bottle of Bonanza or Meiomi. This is about the experience, not a buzz. Here at Whole Bottle Reviews, we’re into wine, not Kool Aid.

There will always be a comments section on each post, so I invite you to join the community and share your own thoughts and own magical bottle experiences. And I am always open to suggestions on what bottle to review next!

I’d also like to invite you to join my Whole Bottle Review Email Notification list above, so I can notify you as soon as I post something new. When you join, I’ll also give you my free report, 5 Magical Bottles to Drink Now, plus tell you my story of how I became a Certified Sommelier….it actually involves the US Submarine Force, the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), and lots of very fine whisky.  Stay tuned!

If we’re going to drink, let’s drink the good stuff!

-John Alanis,
Certified Sommelier

“It’s not about the wine, it’s about the EXPERIENCE of the wine.”