Ribeira Sacra "Alodio" Mencia, Spain
Grapes 100% Mencia – pronounced “Mehn-cee-ah,” (or “Mehn-thee-ah” in Castilian Spanish…say it like you have a lisp.) Facts My advice for wine drinkers (especially new wine drinkers) has ALWAYS been to try and venture outside your comfort zone and be open to trying new wines i.e. don’t get caught in a rut, drinking essentially the same old wine that you’ve been drinking for years. The Ribeira Sacra “Alodio” Mencia is a perfect example of…
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How to Do Laundry.
So You Want To Build a Wine Cellar…
I continue to receive numerous questions from people looking for advice on building a wine cellar, and whilst I can usually help to answer most peoples’ queries, I prefer to occasionally defer to the superior knowledge of my good friend Curtis Dahl, co-owner of Joseph & Curtis. Curtis is an expert in all matters wine cellar related, since his company builds some of the finest wine cellars known to humankind! I accumulated a few wine…
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The Age of a Grapevine.
Champagne De Venoge Grand Vin des Princes, 1993.
Grapes 100% Chardonnay Facts The opening of this bottle of De Venoge 1993 Grand Vin des Princes was a last minute decision i.e. 30 minutes before I popped the cork. Usually, you would reserve opening a wine of this magnitude for the birth of your first-born child; instead, I/we decided that my wife’s “half-birthday” (August 7th) was a good enough reason! She’s an only child, and so she celebrates things like that… De Venoge…
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Beware of the Dreaded Wine Meme!!!
For those of you who aren’t “down with the kids,” a meme (according to Wikipedia) is: “an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.” In a nutshell, a meme [pronounced “meem”] is most commonly seen on social networks in the form of a photo with a funny tagline attached (as shown to the left). Paul Mabray (of Vintank fame) posted an article a few days ago which really struck…
Read MoreWine: What am I Paying for and What’s the Difference? – I Know Jax
Rendez-vous Grenache Rose Paired with Salmon with Curried Fennel-Wine Sauce.
If you caught my recent post on pairing foods with rose wine, you’ll know that I consider roses to be one of the most food friendly, albeit one of the most overlooked, wines to match with food. I’d even go so far as to put them right up there with Riesling and bubblies, as far as their all-round pairing ability! I’ve said it countless times before, but I still feel the need to reiterate, that…
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Hitler Wine Leaves a Bad Taste.
An investigation in Italy has been launched, after some idiot thought that putting an image of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on their wines was a good marketing idea. One of the bottles features “the man with the silly mustache” performing the Nazi salute, another alongside the words Mein Kampf (meaning “my struggle” in German), and a third depicting Hitler posing with the late Pope John Paul II, which has been manipulated (obviously!). The Italian authorities…
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The Popularity of Pinot Noir is a Concern for Some Wineries.
Is Pinot Noir becoming too popular? That is the question being asked by some of vineyard owners in California and Oregon. The primary concern is that due to the increased popularity of the grape, vineyards are planting vines with a focus on high production and low cost. To illustrate this shift, Jason Lett, the owner of Eyrie Vineyards in Oregon confirmed that Pinot Noir vineyards were beginning to appear on the fertile valley floor of…
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How Valuable is the “Story” Behind a Wine?
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…
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