Faro, Portugal The car rental guy moved like someone scooping coleslaw at a midwestern potluck—unhurried, deliberate, as if the line in front of him didn’t exist. The road into town wasn’t much faster. Storm Nuria was rolling in hard—phone alerts buzzing, palm trees...
Sonoma’s Big Secret
Sebastopol, CA“I taste pork rind.”C began consoling the sommelier: “I don’t know what he’s talking...
12 Dirty Secrets of Cheap Wine (Part 2)
Last week, we showed you how winemakers trying to compete on the new global wine market are using...
12 Dirty Secrets of Cheap Wine (Part 1)
A number of you have written in asking for more information about the dirty secrets of the mass...
How to Make Wine
Boca Raton, Florida We are traveling this week, so we’ll dispense with the usual essay. The only...
The Barolo Wars
Baltimore, MD Up in the rolling hills, where the grape vines grow under shrouds of dense fog, a...
Will You Pass the Gualfin Test?
Baltimore, MD From within the trees, we heard a pitched scream. “Sh*t,” I muttered, dismounting my...
Julien’s Weekly Tasting Recap
This week - a complete recap of Julien’s weekly tastings so far. Enjoy! ...
A rose dipped in tar
“Would you be interested in meeting a beautiful woman with a delicious Barolo?” he asked. How...
What You Need to Know About 2014 Italian Wines
Annapolis, MD “We only have the 2014 Brunello but it’s good. We were very selective during the...
Hello from Verona, Italy
This week finds the wine team in “fair Verona,” wandering its maze of cobbled streets to find the...
Thoughts on Torrontes?
Washington, DC Back in the US for a brief pit stop before heading to Verona.But right now, we’d...
Hello from Argentina!
Calchaqui Valley, Argentina (9,000 feet above sea level) Here in northwestern Argentina, the...