Unlevel Playing Field for 10/01/2024
Most commercial domestic wines are too expensive compared with imports, and one reason is that imports often have a major financial advantage.Wine is, ultimately, an agricultural product, so it is...
View ArticleWine Bargain Time? for 10/08/2024
Wine sales throughout the United States are slower than maple syrup at a January campsite breakfast, mainly because consumers are extremely tired of drinking high-alcohol wines.Moreover, alternative...
View ArticleVisiting Wine Country for 10/22/2024
Visiting a winery to see how this magical product is produced can be done at any time of the year, but I have found that it is really best done shortly after the year-end holidays.Immediately after the...
View ArticleCabernet Franc for 10/29/2024
One of the fastest-selling wines in the United States over the last two decades has been cabernet sauvignon. But as climate change impacts the vineyards, that may well have to change.Cabernet will not...
View ArticleElegance in Wine for 11/05/2024
Sales of wine and many other alcoholic beverages are declining rapidly in the United States in a repeat of a softness in this industry that occurred exactly 22 years ago.Downturns in wine sales occur...
View ArticleToo Much Knowledge for 11/12/2024
I had a glass of wine recently at a cafe, and it reminded me that too much knowledge can be a detriment.Buying wine either at a retail store or in a restaurant can be risky. Either you know very little...
View ArticleWine Prices for 11/19/2024
No one is quite certain what will happen to U.S. wine prices in the coming year, but one thing is certain: Change is afoot.Several weeks ago, news stories indicated a strong likelihood that wine prices...
View ArticleNew Zealand Primer for 11/26/2024
At a dinner party a few weeks ago, a couple told me they were planning to travel to New Zealand next summer, and they wanted to know if I had any suggestions about what to see.Since I have been to New...
View ArticleBarolo for 12/03/2024
In the introduction to their 1990 book "Barolo, Tar and Roses," authors Michael Garner and Paul Merritt describe the aroma and taste of the classic red wine from Italy's Piemonte, Barolo:"The initial...
View ArticleOrange Wine, Boxed Wine and More for 12/10/2024
As the year comes to a close, a few wine topics should be addressed. Each could be examined in more detail, but here are my thoughts in brief."Orange wine"? This relatively recent development is really...
View ArticleWine and Health for 12/17/2024
"Wine has been with us since the beginning of civilization. It is the temperate, civilized, sacred, romantic mealtime beverage recommended in the bible. Wine has been praised for centuries by...
View ArticleAuthenticity for 12/24/2024
When we buy a bottle of a famed wine, we take it on faith that it's genuine and not a fake.In fact, fake wine is precisely why corks began to be branded with the name of a winery as well as the vintage...
View ArticleWine Resolutions for 12/31/2024
A recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC said that half of all Americans this year, mainly young adults, will resolve to change their lifestyle in one way or another.Making resolutions for the new...
View ArticleIt's Your Wine for 01/07/2025
Wine purists say that the dinner wine you choose should match the food. Some of them can be persnickety about this.Others say, phooey, drink anything you like with any food. Do you like riesling with...
View ArticleL.A. Fires for 01/14/2025
The firestorms that ravaged California — and disasters in other parts of the country in recent years — left devastation that can take years to repair, and those who lost homes will never be able to...
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Chenin Blanc
Fifty years ago, the most popular wine in this country was a fresh, flowery white that was never intended to be aged and sold so fast that it was often out of stock long before a year was up. It was...
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It's Champagne Season
It's Champagne season — a line you might think indicates that this article is being published two weeks too late. And sure, sparkling wines usually are reserved for toasting at Christmas and New...
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Aromatic Intrusions
I renamed it the "unhappy hour," even though the thought was appreciated. The hotel put out two wines at 4 p.m. in its lobby, a white and a red. A sign invited guests to help themselves. Ignoring that...
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Making Low-Alcohol Wine
I tasted a wine the other day from a bottle with a label stating that the alcohol was 14.5%. It tasted like it was about twice that; my throat burn was so strong I sought antacids. By definition, wine...
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Cabernet
The cynic in me has been saying for years that the more you pay for a cabernet sauvignon, the less it smells and tastes like cabernet. This may be a gross generalization that's hard if not impossible...
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