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General Wine

Meditrina, a new wine love of loves

Meditrina, the Roman Goddess of Health and Wine, is the name of a heavenly red blend from Oregon. Newsroom budgets and not bottles have consumed most of my time lately, although I did get to taste five wines in the Pergola over the weekend. While the Wine Goddess did her thing in the garden, I […]

General Wine

Summer doldrums? It's wine party time

It was the most expensive vacation in which I never left home. My wife, the Wine Goddess, and yours truly were planning to visit my sister, who has a nice 43-foot cabin Cruiser on Lake Michigan, last week. But prior to departure, our central heating/air conditioning system expired, an electrical coil quit its refrigerator job […]

General Wine

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc is a great buy at $14.99

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc is a great buy at $14.99 when compared to pricier, more well-known brands like Cloudy Bay. WINE PICKS OF THE WEEK: Go to Costco in New Hampshire and check out the Eroica Riesling from Washington State. This is a 92-point rated wine (Wine Enthusiast) selling for $16.69. Its orange aromas and […]

General Wine

A Brunello for Caravaggio's Bacchus

Is Caravaggio’s Bacchus (1597-98) teasing us to join the party with his rich goblet of wine? Im sitting in the pergola reading Andrew Graham-Dixons fascinating new book on Renaissance artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) when I drift off to the last time I was in Rome, in 2007, and I saw the great painters […]

General Wine

Keep the wine mysteries coming, dear

I was planning on taking a vacation from writing this column this week, and came up with a novel excuse — palate fatigue. I told the Wine Goddess I will pass on this excuse to my readers who will inevitably turn to medical journals to find out if “palate fatigue” is terminal. She laughed and […]

General Wine

Napa Valley comes to New Hampshire

If you want to get a feel for what dining in California’s wine country is all about, you don’t have to fly 3,000 miles or spend $500 on airfare. Just travel up Route 3 North to Exit 4 in Nashua and head to Murphy Drive. Once there, take your first left in the industrial park […]

General Wine

Take a swing at Bill Lee's 'Spaceman' wine

Ex-Red Sox star Bill Lee is now pitching a California red blend. Bill Lee was one of the most colorful and controversial baseball players ever to perform in a Boston Red Sox uniform. He was on a different level entirely, especially when it came to analyzing his Leephus (or Space Ball) pitch, the longitude and […]

General Wine

A 'Phantom' red to warm your heart

Bogle Vineyards’ Phantom red wine had a unique effect on the Wine Novice. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera remains my all-time favorite Broadway musical. I’ve seen touring productions in Boston and Providence but never with the original stars, the great Michael Crawford (The Phantom) and equally superb Sarah Brightman (Christine Daaé). My […]