Summer might be winding down but it doesn’t mean your palate has to fade away to fall. Here are five fun-filled and flavorful wines to keep summer’s spirit alive through the Labor Day weekend. Villa Wolf Pinot Noir Sparkling Rose`,Germany, $13.99 – Dr. Loosen and Villa Wolf owner Ernst Loosen’s philosophy is simple: Make quality […]
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Aperture’s Chenin Blanc raises the bar on texture, elegance
Aperture Cellars winemaker Jesse Katz is “changing the way the world drinks.” That’s what Wine Enthusiast editors gushed in a recent cover story praising Katz as one of the industry’s top under-40 innovators. Katz’s small-batch wines from California’s North Coast appellations represent a “textural” revolution, especially the whites, where fresh-pressed juice is initially barrel fermented […]
Importer scales new Spanish heights with Ribeira Sacra wines
I’m fortunate to have a wine expert living in my neighborhood. For more than 20 years, Craig Gandolf was the wine director for Jorge Ordonez Selections, one of the largest U.S. importers of Spanish wines. In May 2018, he was named national sales manager for Cynthia Hurley French Wines based in Needham. While French wines […]
For a second violin to an icon, ‘Guidalberto’ performs brilliantly (and for less money)
For years Tenuta San Guido estate’s “Guidalberto” has lived in the shadow as a second label to “Sassicaia”, the Marchesa Mario della Rochetta’s legendary Bordeaux-style wine that launched Italy’s Super Tuscan phenomenon in the 1970s. Now run by son Nicolo`, Tenuta San Guido enjoys the best of both worlds. Sassicaia, which retails at $250 a […]
Double Diamond: A Napa Valley gem makes an exquisite comeback
“You want it darker,” sang the late-great poet-singer Leonard Cohen in one of his final albums before he died in 2016. Too bad he wasn’t singing about wine. Yes, Mr. Cohen, I want it darker too – in the glass. After drinking pale pink rose` wines for what seems like an eternity this summer, my […]
Going to a garden party? Make it bloom with cool, tasty rose`
What do you serve to guests at a garden party during an oppressive heat wave? Cool, clean, crisp rose` – and plenty of it! Sixteen intrepid neighbors toured my wife Mary Lee’s daylily gardens over the weekend as temperatures sizzled. Buoyed by glasses of chilled rose`, no one wavered or wilted. The daylilies – all […]
Thanks to Italian scientists, Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th-century wine lives again!
I’ve added a new destination to my Bucket List: Leonardo da Vinci’s long lost and now revived vineyard in Milan. Yes, the 16th century genius in art and science was also a vintner. He loved wine and ever the visionary wrote about its health benefits as the “divine juice of the grape.” In 1495, the […]
Gambero Rosso wine event makes a Mast'(ery) of Neapolitan-style cooking
[URIS id=4969] Pizza is food, says Marco Caputo, and it should be cooked so that all the ingredients’ flavors emerge – some patiently, others powerfully – to be enjoyed as a meal. When Caputo talks pizza, your mouth starts watering for a taste. He’s the owner-chef of Boston’s Mast’ Restaurant & Drinkery on Province Street […]
Eight cool Rieslings to revive the zing and zest of summer
Riesling is one of the world’s noble grapes and probably its most versatile white wines. It is made in all sweetness levels – dry, off-dry and sweet – and stands up well as a pairing partner to many cheeses and foods, especially spicy Asian, Thai, and Mexican dishes. As the summer rolls on and […]
Super wines for a super Fourth of July!
When I hear “Bonanza”, I think instantly of the wildly popular 1960s action-packed western TV series starring actor Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright and his three disparate sons – “Hoss” (Dan Blocker), Adam (Pernell Roberts) and Little Joe (Michael Landon) – patrolling the Ponderosa ranch and defending it from unscrupulous bad guys. If only the […]
