, 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 […]
Red wines
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, […]
Wine Novice will make a wine expert out of you
Can white wine be made from red grapes? What is the difference between oaked and unoaked Chardonnay? How do I know what grapes are used in a bottle of French Sancerre? If you want to learn the answers to these questions, and step up your wine-tasting skills, I’ll be teaching two fun courses in April […]
Part 2: There's a lavish Brunello for most budgets
In a recent column, I wrote about the versatility of the sangiovese grape, and focused on the high end Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino from Tenuta Il Greppo in Tuscany. Biondi-Santi is a collector’s wine, selling for high prices. But you don’t have to pay hundreds of dollars to enjoy this exquisite and highly revered Italian […]
Biondi-Santi Brunello: Sangiovese at its best
Sangiovese is the most widely planted red grape in Italy and also among the most versatile. It reigns supreme in Tuscany, where sangiovese (translation: blood of Jove or Jupiter) is the primary grape for four distinctly incredible wines: Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile Montepulciano (not to be confused with the southern Italian […]
Fall deliverables: Washington State wines worth waiting for
November is one of my favorite months of the year, when the cooler temperatures herald my wine club FedEx shipments from Washington State. I look forward to the latest vintages from Doubleback, Long Shadows Winery and L’Ecole– all from the Walla Walla region. The wines are unique, limited in quantity, and high in quality. Most […]
Believe the hype: Hipperia is superior
Spanish winemakers are crafting beautiful, inexpensive wines, and their products continue to grow market share in the United States and the rest of the world. For years, these wines were the world’s best-kept secrets. That’s because Spaniards would drink a large share of the annual output, leaving little incentive to export in a major fashion. […]
Italian Chiaretto makes a run at French rosés
Chiaretto is exclusively an Italian wine phenomenon. The word refers to a dry Italian rosé made in the beautiful Lake Garda region that straddles the provinces of Lombardia and Veneto. The chiaretto process dates back to 1896, when lawyer Pompeo Molmenti used knowledge gained in France to delicately press red grapes at his Lake Garda […]
Joseph Phelps built up quite a wine-asty
I had a sip or two of Joseph Phelps Vineyards iconic Insignia a year ago at a wine tasting, and the taste stuck with me for a long time. It’s a beautiful Bordeaux-style red from Napa Valley. Insignia is selling for $159 for the 2008 vintage up to $259 a bottle for more recent releases. […]
