Annapolis, MD So, we’ve received queries from a few members to the effect of: “It’s the dead of summer… and I live in Texas… I’m afraid that my Italian wines are going to get cooked before they reach me.” That’s…
New York, NY “I want it to taste like someone stuffed gym socks in the bottle.” Across the table, C. raised her eyebrows. The sommelier smiled and walked away. “Dear, this is a nice restaurant,” C. began. “They’re not going…
Delray Beach, FL Shockwaves rippled through the wine world last week with the release of the annual Top 50 World’s Best Vineyards list. The top spot – chosen by the “Academy,” a group of 500 sommeliers, wine connoisseurs, and hoteliers…
Delray Beach, FL – We had occasion this past weekend to thumb through a copy of What Makes a Wine Worth Drinking by Terry Theise. If the name is unfamiliar, Theise is both a writer and an importer, a combination…
“Look at that sediment,” C said. “It’s almost like apple cider.” We were inspecting a cloudy bottle of “natural” sparkling wine we had recently received in the mail. As staunch critics of mass market wines and industrial winemaking, it is…
“The wines are on their way!” said Diego. We let out a whoop. After months and months, we finally had our Italian wines crossing the ocean to our warehouse in California. We had been surprised at how long it took,…
Annapolis, MD 40 years ago, in the dead of night, a thief stole Burgundy’s greatest wine secret. Sneaking onto a vineyard on a moonless night, an American named Gary is said to have crouched down by a pinot noir vine,…
Sonoma, CA Never eat ice cream before going to a wine tasting. If you recall from last week, we had gone to the Marimar winery (as in Marimar Torres of Spain’s famous wine dynasty) to taste wines from grapes grown…
Sebastopol, CA “I taste pork rind.” C began consoling the sommelier: “I don’t know what he’s talking about. I’m getting flowers…maybe honeysuckle?” We swished the liquid around in our own glass, admiring the clarity and lack of sickly yellow coloring…
Last week, we showed you how winemakers trying to compete on the new global wine market are using techniques that wind up removing coveted flavors and textures, if not outright demolishing the “gout du terroir” that makes a wine great.…
