If you’re suffering from summer Chardonnay overload, here are few white wines — and new vareitals — that can pep up the palate for autumn. • Pieropan Soave Classico 2016, $14.99 — Nino Pieropan’s 50th anniversary vintage is quite a knockout, scoring an outstanding 92 point rating from Wine Enthusiast magazine. For less than $15 […]
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Grapes can't talk — so the Wine Novice will
, The Wine Novice If grapes could talk – some winemakers insist they can whisper to them – Italy’s more than 1,000 varieties could tell stories of how they fueled papal conquests, Roman legions on the move, and even the seductions of emperors and kings. When I open a bottle of Italian wine, I often […]
The glamour of the garden and elegant wine
Jungle Beauty. La Dolce Vita. Diary of Faith. Ice Carnival. Daydream Believer. These are not summer wines, they are daylillies blooming in the summer gardens circling my home. The Wine Goddess — my wife Mary Lee — has carefully nurtured these dazzling gems for years — some from seedlings that she hybridized herself — […]
Portugal's authentic wines of Alentejo
, The Wine Novice Did you know the people of Portugal eat more seafood per capita than any other European, barring the Icelanders? So it’s only natural that the Portuguese know the best wines to drink with their spicy shrimp tapas and bacalhau (salted cod) dishes. Of course, the famous cuisine, influenced by centuries […]
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc rises to a 'Signature' station
Every once in a while I feel the urge for a lip-smacking, grapefruit-driven, crisp Sauvignon Blanc. It started several years ago when the Wine Goddess — my wife Mary Lee — and I took a spectacular fall trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Guess what we drank with our oysters, which were the […]
Lacryma Christi may just have you weeping for joy
Just the name – Terra Mia’s Lacryma Christi di Vesuvio Bianco – is enough to intrigue a curious wine drinker to investigate what’s in the bottle. So begins today’s journey into a truly unique white wine from the Italian province of Campania. According to archaeologists who analyzed residue left on ancient casks, Lacryma Christi comes […]
Don't blush to judgment with rosé
A friend asked me why I liked to drink rosé. This was back during Christmas season. He said rosé is a “summer wine.” I laughed. “Think pink when you drink,” I replied. Then I explained that rosé has actually become a year-round dry, refreshing wine. It’s a great for as a dinner aperitif, party sipper, […]
Making a case for fabulous Italian wine at $8.11 a bottle
I went on a shopping trip last weekend to New Hampshire with the Wine Butler — my good friend and former Sun photographer Mike Pigeon — to see if we could cash in on a $25 discount coupon published in this newspaper and a 15 percent sale on Italian wines. We did. We purchased 13 […]
Three unique wines that will change your mind about California
It’s not true that all California Chardonnay tastes the same. In fact, I’m going to suggest several white wines from different appellations to prove that vineyard locations do matter.. While I prefer unoaked Chardonnay (Chablis from France), my all-time favorite Chadonnays are from California. I can always count on Chateau Montelena ($40) and Rombauer ($36.99) […]
A lesson in Chianti Classico from a Wine Novice
Chianti Classico 101. That’s this week’s lesson. Lesson? Well, I received notification from the Wine Scholar Guild in Washington, D.C., that I passed my final exam, taken March 31, and I am now a certified Italian Wine Scholar. My diploma arrived in the mail two weeks ago. Nearly 18 months of class work, online study […]
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