Taking the world one wine at a time.
Following on from yesterday’s post, here are my 5 gift suggestions for a wine lover: A Good Wine Opener Every wine lover needs a decent wine bottle opener! It doesn’t have to be anything crazy; I know there’s a bunch of electric and even gas powered gimmicks on the market, but I personally like to keep it fairly simple! If you’re looking for a quality opener that combines form, function, and practicality, I recommend a…
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With Christmas being just around the corner, it seems that I’ve been getting asked daily as to what I would deem as a “good gift” for a wine lover. I originally started writing this article as just “5 Gift Ideas for a Wine Lover”, but then I realized that what’s even more important as what not to buy for a “wine aficionado”.This article is therefore a 2-parter. First, here are my suggestions on 5 wine…
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Please, take care of yourself out on the roads this holiday season! A recent joint study conducted by the Department of Health and the Department of Motor Vehicles indicates that 23% of traffic accidents are alcohol related. This means that the remaining 77% are caused by a**holes who drink bottled water, Starbucks, soda, juice, energy drinks, and other crap like that. Therefore, beware of those who do not drink alcohol. They cause three times as…
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Wine Critic’s Representative Defends Deals The Spain-based representative for an influential Baltimore wine reviewer defended himself Wednesday amid accusations that he asked wineries for money in exchange for a visit from the critic. The wine world has buzzed for days over news that respected oenophile Jay Miller, former co-owner of Bin 604 in Harbor East, had resigned from The Wine Advocate after accusations that his Spanish contact had strong-armed payments from local wineries in exchange…
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Grape 100% Cabernet Facts Peggy Rowan is the visionary behind HeartSmart. This Cabernet was inspired by her love for animals, and specifically the Great Dane breed. “They’re big, bold and beautiful—which happen to be the same qualities I love about Cabernet Sauvignon.” in Peggy’s own words. The 2008 Great Dane won the Gold Medal at this year’s San Francisco International Wine Competition. Ann Ruth, is the remarkable artist behind the HeartSmart wine…
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According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BAFT – United States), the word “refreshing” can’t be utilized when describing alcohol beverages.
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Grapes 100% Sauvignon Blanc Facts Today I realized that this only the 2nd New Zealand white wine I’ve ever reviewed. Why is that, you ask? Wellllll…I think they all taste the same. Not that that’s a terribly bad thing. If you’re looking for a dependable summer-time glugger, I’d definitely put NZ SB in my top 5…but it’s no huge secret that New Zealand has developed a tiny reputation as being a “one trick pony” because of their…
Grapes 81% Cabernet Franc, 13% Malbec, 2% Cabernet, 2% Petit Verdot, 2% Merlot Facts Cabernet Franc happens to be one of my favorite grapes. Unfortunately, good Cab Franc is rarely cheap, and cheap Cab Franc is rarely good. Somehow, Raats seem to have both of these bases covered. South Africa might be onto something here. Raats winery are big proponents of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Now, maybe I’m missing something, but when I…
Grapes 65% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah, 9% Carignane, 3% Mataro, 2% Alicante Bouchet,1% Grenache and a partridge in a pear tree. Facts You know what I’ve always admired about Ridge? It’s that they manage to “do Zin” without making me feel like feeling I’ve just been molested by blackberries and alcohol. True story. The Ridge 3 Valleys in the only wine blended from multiple vineyards, rather than being sourced from one specific vineyard, in…
Just another small article I was asked to write for Jacksonville Magazine’s “Taste” edition… Winter Reds Petite Petit, Lodi, California – $14.99 If you’re looking for a “little” something to warm yourself up during the colder months, there could possibly be no wine more fit for the purpose than Petite Petit. Named after its blend of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot grapes, don’t be mistaken for thinking this is a “small” wine. Since Petite…
Grapes Hamdani and Jandali – Heard of them? No, me neither before today. Hamdani and Jandali grapes are native to Palestine. Facts I can’t lie, as much as I love drinking “off the beaten path” wines, reviewing them is a nightmare…primarily due to the lack of research available. I can’t exactly blame this winery though! I mean…they’re in Palestine. I was actually quite surprised they even had a website. The other reason I’m never…
Grapes 100% Pinot Blanc Facts Bubbles from Alsace! Who knew!?!? Well, me…but that’s only because I’m a nerd for this stuff. Seriously though, Alsace barely gets a look-in on most restaurant wine lists and even less on retailers’ shelves. Shame really, since they tend to be some of my favorite white wines coming out of France. Petition your local Sommelier, I say!!! The Helfrich family, even though they’re “old school Alsace,” and farming from some…
Ok, first-things-first, I didn’t write the title for this article. “Grape Expectations” is way beyond my reaches of my creativity. Secondly; I wrote this article a couple of months ago for the Jacksonville Magazine “Taste” Edition…and I know we’re out of Summer now….but I think it still has relevance…since the weather here is Florida is so bloody-warm well into November! 4 Summer Wines Taltarni “Tache,” Brut Sparkling, Australia Description The term Tache (meaning “stained” in…
This post is painful to write. No, it’s not because I’m listening to Miley Cyrus whilst writing this. Actually, it’s because I made this recipe a few weeks ago and I’m just getting-around to posting it. This procrastination conveniently coincides with my crazy idea of doing a 48 hour detox. No food or alcohol for 48 hours. (I ate 3 digestive biscuits last night, but don’t tell my wife. So doesn’t read this blog, so…
Apart from garnishing the plate with dried leaves and a squirrel, I can’t imagine how this recipe could be anymore Autumnal. [There’s a word I don’t use very often: Autumnal.] Any-who, this pairing combines two things I just don’t consume enough of; namely, ribs and bubbly…and even more-so on the same dinner table! I’ve never been a fan of sticking to “food and wine pairing rules,” but I’d never go so far as to say…
I was asked to write an article for Jacksonville Magazine a few weeks ago, and I figured – since my postings here have been kind-of “slack” of late – I would share it with my wonderful readers. The beers – in case you don’t recognize them – are all local Jacksonville breweries. Chicken Since many chefs view chicken as a “blank canvas” on which to exercise their culinary creativity, the type of BBQ sauce…
I wasn’t going to post this recipe for mulled wine, but then I received the following email from my mom a few days ago: Is mulled wine best used as a room freshener? It makes the room smell gorgeous but when you taste it it tastes like medicine!!!!!! Mom Clearly even my own mom needs a little help making mulled wine, so here we go! The definitive recipe and method on how to make mulled…
If you’ve been following this blog over the past year, you’ll know that I’ve been putting together quite a few food and wine pairings, with individual wines paired with recipes. Well, I plan to continue with those, but I’m also looking to add these standalone recipes to the mix. My reasons are simple: The other pairings take so long to put together, mainly in photography, editing and writing time, that I found myself posting…
I increasingly seem to find myself banging-on about the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) movement. Of course a great number of us have become bored with the same-old over-oaked Cali Chards, but that doesn’t mean to say oak doesn’t have a place in modern Chardonnay. Winemakers treat oak the same way that chefs treat salt when cooking. Without salt, a dish can barely come alive by itself. Adding even the tiniest amount to an unseasoned dish…
It’s almost weekly that I receive an email from someone thinking about building a wine cellar in their home, and looking for my personal recommendation on a good wine cellar builder. Of course there’s wine cellars and there’s wine cellars. My “wine cellar” consists of my closet containing a 200 bottle wine rack and no temperature control. It does the job…for now…but for those looking for something a little more serious, I always send them…
How long have you been making wine? Well, this is my 40th year, coming up, of winemaking. I started with big wineries and my ultimate goal was to have my own place. So I’m guessing, with 40 years, you’ve always been involved in winemaking… Yeah, I discovered wine when I was still in High School…. …as did most of us! <laughs> Yeah! True. So I fell in love with wine from an early…
What is your position with Soiree? I am the co-owner and managing partner for SoireeHome. How did you come to be involved with Soiree? Soiree was conceived of over a few different nights at a wine bar that I designed for my, now, business partners but prior long time family friends. I was an architect at that time, with a focus on architectural branding. After some discussions at the wine bar and looking at all…
Has art always been a part of your life? Yes, absolutely! I live in Corning, New York, which is a very small town, but I read a survey a few months ago that Corning was one of the best small art-towns in the country. We’ve got a really cohesive group of artists out here, and I was raised among them. Art is how I think and breathe.I never technically went through art school. I was…
Disclaimer: This interview is normally only something I would post on my sister site: JacksonvilleWineGuide.com, since most of the discussion is very focused towards Jacksonville. However; I think that even if you don’t live in Jacksonville, there’s some very interesting topics of discussion here… Chad Munsey has been a friend of mine for quite some time, and so when I heard he was opening a new wine bar (in the old Original Pancake House…
Believe it or not, me and Sparky go waaaaaaaay back! I’m talking 2009, here! Mollydooker winemaker Sparky Marquis was actually the first ever winemaker I interviewed when I started blogging. This week he came back to Jacksonville for the release of his 2010 wines. The interview was supposed to last about 15 minutes. We ended up talking for closer to an hour. <Sparky starts pouring every-single one of his wines into glasses lined up…
Aerating and decanting wine are foreign concepts to even the most avid of wine nerd! What exactly do aerating and decanting mean…or do for the wine? When is each one appropriate? How do you decant or aerate? And what’s the difference? Watch the video and find out!
Merlot vs Cabernet – What’s the Difference? (And cake pops…for some reason…) In this video, my good buddy Joe Talentino and I examine the differences between Merlot and Cabernet wines. Of course they’re the two most popular red wines in America, but many people don’t know what makes each of them different and unique, or why you might prefer one to the other, so Joe and I here to help!
Okie-dokie, before we get started, it’s probably best to get the pronunciation of terroir word out of the way before we move on with the rest of the article: Terroir [ter-whah] Very loosely translated from French (since no-one can agree on the exact definition, and there is no English equivalent), terroir means “a sense of place”. It’s applied by wine nerds to talk about all the things that have an effect on the grapes in…
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