I have been dreaming about a perfect wine world – a wine utopia – and thought it would be fun to share. It might make you smile, chuckle or even let out a gut buster! But if you lived in my wine utopia, you certainly wouldn’t want to leave. 1) All wines would be served [...]
Let me tell you that there are some bad wine lists in this town. I don’t care what anyone says. I look at some restaurant wine lists and I have to ask myself what was the wine buyer thinking?! Now, before you proclaim me a snob, let me share my criteria for a good wine [...]
I recently did a tasting of some of California’s great “cult” Cabernets. And as we tasted through the wines, someone astutely asked how much alcohol was in the wine. I took a gander at the labels and all six of them were labeled at 14.5 percent abv (alcohol by volume). All were made at the [...]
Here is my annual prediction list for the wine world in the new year. It’s always a very interesting exercise to try to foresee the future through a wineglass. It takes drinking a few glasses before I start getting these premonitions, but somebody has to do it. 1) Expect to see more new brands of [...]
I trust you had your fill of turkey this past week and are probably still having some this week. There are dozens if not hundreds of recipes for leftover turkey. But what about leftover wine? What can you do with that? Here are my best suggestions for any unfinished bottles of wine you may still [...]
The third Thursday of November marks the beginning of the holiday season. Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! The new vintage of Beaujolais is here. I have written on the value and phenomenon that is Beaujolais Nouveau. But, in addition, it is an opportunity to herald the greatness that Beaujolais can be. Greatness and Beaujolais are [...]
Paying things forward is a beautiful concept in life. When someone does something nice for you, you “pay it forward” by doing something kind for someone else. In wine, there is a parallel phenomenon called a “Solera.” This is a system of fractional blending of wines from consecutive harvests. You start with wine in a [...]
Picture this. You walk into a tapas bar in Chile replete with hanging ham hocks, cured olives in buckets and fresh fish bathing in ice. You do your best to pronounce everything with a Spanish accent, and the waiter answers you in English. You want a “local” red wine. He smiles and says he has [...]
You’ve heard the saying before: “You can never have too much of a good thing.” Some believe it is true for wine as well. But when it comes to yield from the vine, there are other schools of thought. Every great winemaker knows that great wine is truly made in the vineyard. So it is [...]
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Don’t judge the wine by its packaging. Don’t prejudge the wine by its screw cap. And, I will add, don’t judge a wine by its box. Yes, I’m writing about wines that come in a box because they are some of the best values on the market. At [...]
