Exploring the menu of life.
Bubbles can be sanity-saving– salve a bad day, make Meatloaf Night an occasion or help celebrate a holiday. Luckily, high-quality sparkling wine comes in all price points. So whether you have a Hamilton or a Franklin in your wallet, it’s easy to toast to the good life. Learn the difference ... Read More »
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 ... Read More »
Mark my words – Chenin Blanc is the new little black dress. Comfortable, sleek, versatile and sophisticated, this white grape from France is making a new entrance to the big world of wine lovers. Thank the younger generation of drinkers who crave the unique, the little-known yet delicious in their ... Read More »
Americans love their sugar. The home of Dolly Madison, Coca-Cola and blush wine peddles tons of tooth-decaying junk, but for some reason, the masses have not welcomed sweet dessert wines into their lives. Wine snobs have loved them for years, and they’ve been around since Roman times. So we ... Read More »
If you’re not a regular shopper of Costco, Kirkland is their private label and Kirkland wines, sourced from various wineries around the world, is kicking ass in the value department. Unfortunately, Costco doesn’t reveal which wineries they work with, so you have to try them to find out ... Read More »
It’s an impressive mouthful of a name with an equally impressive personality. Cave Robert et Marcel 2016 Saumur Les Pouches hails from the Saumur appellation in the Loire Valley region of France (read more about the Loire Valley), where the grape varietal Chenin Blanc reigns supreme.
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Every so often, you taste a wine that — to borrow a word from beer circles — is a “session” wine. You can drink it aaalllll day— in sessions by the pool, on the patio or on the couch. Sip after sip, it keeps on giving and never gets tedious. Occasionally, Sauvignon Blanc ... Read More »
As someone who writes about wine and who also works for a winery, I have multitudinous bottles of wine at my house. It can get overwhelming, albeit in a very, very good way. But what this enviable “predicament” means is that I rarely buy wine. When I do, it’s a pretty epic bottle ... Read More »
Of all the wine regions I’ve had the extreme pleasure to visit, Spain’s Rías Baixas DOC, the west coastal home of the white Albariño grape, was the most memorable. From the way they grow their grapes, to the seafood culture, to the wide open possibilities of this beautifully acidic and ... Read More »
On the wine geekiness scale, the Alta Mora 2014 Rosso ranks high. Made from a decidedly geeky, native grape called Nerello Mascalese and grown on the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily, this robust, well-made red wine checks all the boxes for one-upmanship at a bring-your-own party. The Cusumano family ... Read More »
A few years ago, the Lodi Wine Region hosted the Wine Blogger’s Conference and several hundred bloggers enjoyed some unique fruit of their vines. Sure, there were still overly extracted, high alcohol Zins and Cabs to be had (or not), but I uncovered some pretty incredible small lot, teensy production ... Read More »
Back in 2007, when I was a full-time wine journalist, I spent a couple of days hanging around Flora Springs, a family-owned winery in Napa Valley. Sean Garvey, 3rd generation and a babe in the woods at the time, showed me around and expounded on the beauty of Napa Valley Merlot. So warm and welcoming, ... Read More »