Taylor Eason | November 22nd, 2011
Chianti is one of the classic food wines of Italy. In this wine-soaked country, regional foods are designed to pair with regional wines. [Read about my foodie trip to Italy). They’re crafty that way. Like Garanimals back in the day. In Tuscany, the locals sip Chianti, Chianti Classico and Chianti Classico Reserva (what’s the difference?) with red sauces, long-simmered bean dishes and slow-roasted meats. The higher acidity of the Sangiovese grape complements the high acidity of tomato sauces but also contrasts with the delicious fat of the meat dishes. Matches made in foodie heaven.
Read more: Wine review: Castello d’Albola 2007 Chianti Classico
Taylor Eason | November 11th, 2011
It seems even the traditionalist French are caving to the new consumer tastes — producing fruity wines like their “New World” competitors that they used to deride. Perhaps the musty, dusty, fruity-free style has simply been overtaken by the up-and-coming wine buyer tastes. The Delas 2009 Cotes du Rhone Saint Esprit leads me to believe it…
Read more: Wine review: Delas 2009 Cotes du Rhone Saint Esprit
Taylor Eason | October 31st, 2011
Decanting — the act of transferring wine from its bottle to another vessel — exists for two reasons. One is to introduce oxygen to tame monster tannins. It doesn’t actually change the tannin level, just our perception of it. Learn why you should decant red wine.
Read more: Taming your tannins: Decanting wine, step by step
Taylor Eason | October 25th, 2011
Supply and demand is a wondrous and beautiful thing. Guarding the secret of a juicy wine discovery allows you to skip to the store and snatch it up for practically nothing. It worked this way pre-Sideways, when you could practically steal high quality domestic Pinot Noir, but then people, mesmerized by the flick’s romance, flocked to this formerly humble wine and promptly upgraded it to the overpriced shelf. But, shhhh… like an underground indie flick, there’s a little-known, up-and-coming grape that probably won’t stay long on the downlow: Tempranillo.
Read more: Tempting Tempranillo: A grape whose time has come in America
Taylor Eason | October 23rd, 2011
Although the pitch is transparently focus-grouped and massaged, Vin Parfait [PAR fay] 2009 Chardonnay was a crowd-pleaser at a recent blind tasting. But it’s predictable, non-distinctive and sweet.
Read more: Wine review: Vin Parfait 2009 Chardonnay California
Taylor Eason | October 14th, 2011
I was a bit hesitant to write about Quivira’s Zin that I recently tasted blind, since I reviewed the 2008 vintage in April of this year. But I thought, what the hell, they deserve to get kudos twice in one year. These guys rock the Zinfandel. And, farming biodynamically, they’re stewards of the earth.
Read more: Wine review: Quivira 2009 Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley
Taylor Eason | October 7th, 2011
For a few years now, the Alto Adige wine region in northeastern Italy has been a darling of mine. With a cooler climate than the rest of the heated Italian countrysides, the Pinot Grigios taste crisper, the eclectic reds are more refined and they grow a whole slew of interesting grapes from this rich, historic soil. Like Lagrein.
Read more: Wine review: Elena Walch 2010 Lagrein Alto Adige (Italy)
Taylor Eason | September 29th, 2011
My first life experiences with wine were in the upper reaches of New York State, during college. I lived on campus my senior year at Colgate University (my alma mater), living in the French-speaking-only (yea, right) La Maison Franςaise in an attempt to better my oral skills for culinary school the following year in Switzerland. Throughout the year, I didn’t learn much French but Stephanie, the live-in grad student from Dijon, France and I had a good ‘ole time exploring the wineries in the Finger Lakes region. Fond memories, all of them. And I created new ones this past week.
Read more: Finger Lakes Rieslings: The new wine frontier?
Taylor Eason | September 20th, 2011
King Estate specializes in Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir, and that’s what I’ve been sipping on these past eight years since I met them. Still family-owned — like most wineries in Oregon — they’ve expanded their horizons with their other, more affordable (and still tasty) Acrobat Pinot Noir and Gris. I really admire what these guys have been doing.
Read more: Wine reviews: King Estate 2009 Domaine Pinot Gris and 2008 Pinot Noir
Taylor Eason | September 12th, 2011
I tasted the black label M. Chevallier Carte Noire Cava with trepidation and suppressed my high hopes, attempting to give it a fair and balanced assessment (which is tough without tasting blind). But I was pretty damn impressed. That was a few months ago. Now, it’s my house pour on a Sunday morning, sometimes mixed with tangerine or orange juice for mimosas, sometimes straight up. It all depends on what kind of eggs we’re having.
Read more: Wine review: The best $5 bubbly you can buy — M. Chevallier Cava
|
Free Weekly Food/Drink Newsletter
Support the Writers of this Site – Donate Today!
|
You talk back