Taking the world one wine at a time.
It goes without saying that when it comes to wine, the taste is front and center. But what about the story behind a bottle of wine? It may come as a surprise to you to say that I’ve actually dropped wines from a wine list, in favor of a similar tasting wine with a better story behind it. That will probably seem like a ridiculous notion to most people; but let me explain, I have…
Read More
Grapes 40% Gamay, 30% Malbec, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Pinot Noir Facts If you were to make a list of the red wines coming out of France, Loire Valley reds would certainly come near the bottom; not because of quality, but for the fact it’s one of the more overlooked wine regions. Loire reds have a tendency to be overshadowed by the whites from famed Sancerre, Vouvray, Pouilly Fume and Muscadet regions, and certainly…
Read More
Renegade Washington winemaker Mr. Charles Smith, has his sights set on Chardonnay and only Chardonnay, with his new winery project. The move represents a change of pace for Charles, as his usual focus is towards making top-level Syrah. The once rock band manager, Smith bought the Whitman Cellars facility after it declared bankruptcy in Walla Walla (Washington) earlier this year, and plans to use the 20,000-case winery exclusively for Chardonnay production. “There are some really…
Read More
The next time you’re popping the cork on a bottle of vino, you might want to spare a thought for the humble hornet/wasp! That’s because Duccio Cavalieri, a professor of microbiology at the University of Florence in Italy, claims hornets and wasps are one of the secrets behind a wine’s flavor! Prof. Cavalieri and his colleagues recently made the discovery that wasps and hornets bite into the grapes and help to give the fermentation a…
Read More
It’s dishes like this that make you question why you even go out to eat. Seriously.There was a decent amount of prep up-front on this recipe, but the beauty is that it can be made a day or two ahead of time, and if you have a large party, the quantities can be easily modified. Once you get the initial prep out of the way, the rest is a piece of cake!
Read More
A very nice wine infographic, brought to you by the kind people at ONE HOPE.
Read More
I’m not breaking new ground when I say that wine labels are so bloody difficult to make sense of! The good news is that Californian wine labels are, for the most part, much easier to wrap your head around than European labels. However, they’re still kind-of a minefield! The following list will help to shed some light on what all that lingo means and hopefully guide you in your wine buying decisions…at least with Californian…
Read More