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Grenache
Twenty years ago, I was interviewed on a radio program in San Francisco where, with three minutes left in the show, the host asked, "If you had to take only one wine to a desert island, what would it...
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Natural Wine
The phrase "natural wine" may be confusing to some wine lovers. That is because most regular wine drinkers who pay attention to how wine is normally produced know that it is a product of grape juice in...
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Rain in Vineyards
Two weeks ago, several miles west of Santa Rosa, several Russian River Valley vineyards were almost completely underwater. The scene was duplicated in many low-lying vineyards in Napa, Mendocino, Lake...
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Wine and Cheese
The phrase "wine and cheese" suggests one of the world's most enduring pairings, due in no small part to the amazing similarities between the two. Not only do both emanate from mundane products (grapes...
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How Much Do You Know?
Sitting down at a decent (non-fast food) restaurant with an actual wine list can often be a pitfall for people who like wine but don't know an awful lot about it. Not every restaurant has a...
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The Benefit of Time
Most fine red wines benefit from time in the bottle. Although most of the wine sold in the United States is consumed within hours or a few days of its acquisition, better red wines are made with the...
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Wine Touring
It's still pretty cold in most of the country, but I just received an email from someone seeking advice as they plan a spring trip to a wine country region. For many people, spring wine touring...
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Exciting Whites
With the arrival of warmer weather, dedicated wine lovers immediately begin searching for white wines they can use for patio-sipping or pairing with chips and dip or other casual moments. Although the...
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Rose
Those who are old enough might remember when rose was awful. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, most rose wines came from the central San Joaquin Valley in California and from Portugal, often in ceramic...
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Quady's Dessert Wines
From the end of Prohibition (1933) until Robert Mondavi founded his Napa Valley winery (1966), the wines that most Americans consumed had roughly 18% alcohol and had brandy added to them. Dry table...
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German Riesling
One of the world's greatest wine regions produces so little red wine that it can be considered negligible. I refer to Germany, where the riesling grape has near complete dominance and for a good...
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Wine and Food Pairings
I believe far too much is made of the "proper" wine and food pairings. I realize that many people have made their life's work all about telling others which wines go best with which foods, but there...
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Wine-Food Matches
A recent newspaper article said many older Americans' diets are deficient in protein, which was an issue for me decades ago when my wife (and then I) adopted a vegan diet. Not only did that choice make...
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Blanding of Wine
After I recently recommended a New Zealand sauvignon blanc here, a reader emailed me to say he had tried and disliked the wine. He said it smelled like asparagus. I replied that the wine was supposed...
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Cabernet Franc
Each popular grape variety has its own aromatic profile, though many (most?) large wine producers tend to homogenize any uniqueness. When you pay $10 or less for a bottle of wine, the grape variety...
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