Chablis for 12/13/2022
A friend and winemaker once convinced me that certain kinds of wines taste better with certain kinds of music, and that the wrong pairing makes for dis-chord.I thought of that years ago when I attended...
View Article2023 Wine Bargains for 12/27/2022
As we enter 2023, consumers who are concerned about inflation or other financial matters of the moment may be thinking about the prices of wine and whether they are going up or down.It has been at...
View ArticleThe Wine Options Game for 01/03/2023
Once you really delve deeply into wine, the passion to buy fine wine while it's still available and its price hasn't leaped into the stratosphere can become an obsession.The feeling is both heady and...
View ArticleGrape Families for 01/10/2023
Most people who drink wine on a regular basis have their favorite varieties. Most of us tend to stick with these grapes for years or decades, rarely straying from the familiar.More adventuresome wine...
View ArticleFresh Wine for 01/24/2023
"Like fine old wine..."Television news anchors, characters in movies and just ordinary folks often use this phrase or variations of it to imply that wine gets better with age.Some of it does. But the...
View ArticleLow Alcohol for 01/31/2023
The world's most-consumed liquid is water, and the drawbacks involved with it are so limited as to be utterly obscure.By contrast, there has been an overwhelming controversy for the last several eons...
View ArticleWine in Cafes for 02/07/2023
At a three-star Paris restaurant, the wine list will be elaborate, filled with classic wines that are expensive, and the service and glassware will be impeccable.The wine programs, obviously, are one...
View ArticleEuphemisms in Wine for 02/14/2023
Most people buy wine randomly. That appears to be the case from what I've observed in supermarkets. I heard one woman say she liked a particular chardonnay because it had a blue label. Another shopper...
View ArticleBest Regional Wines for 02/21/2023
More places around the world make wine today than ever before, and part of the reason is that global climate change has moderated the temperatures in places than once were so cold in winter that they...
View ArticleRare Varietals for 02/28/2023
Younger wine buyers seem smitten with the notion that commonplace grapes like chardonnay and cabernet still hold some interest, but they also know that unusual varieties can offer excitement.As a...
View ArticleThe More We Know for 03/07/2023
An experience recently changed the way I look at wine — and especially how others view it.Updated: Thu Mar 09, 2023
View ArticleRestaurant Wine Prices and Obscurity for 03/21/2023
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to wind down over the last year, I noticed a sad trend in some upscale restaurants: wine list prices seemed to be rising.I don't mean only at Michelin-starred places. I...
View ArticleWine Gadgets for 04/04/2023
Wine lore says that the cork, which comes from the bark of the cork oak tree, may first have been used to seal wine bottles by the Benedictine monk Dom Perignon, replacing wooden stoppers in about...
View ArticleDry Sherry for 04/18/2023
For most people, wine is simple: They drink anything that pleases them.But if you think of it as relating to the time of year, it can be linked to the four distinct seasons we all live through.Updated:...
View ArticleRestaurant Wines for 04/25/2023
As the nation continues to recover economically from the worst effects of COVID-19, some of the folks who always made a living from wine are instituting changes to the way they operate.The alterations...
View ArticleDon't Call It Champagne for 05/02/2023
I cut my finger on the metal capsule covering the cork while opening a wine bottle the other day, so I washed the wound, put some vaseline on it and, lacking a band-aid, I used a small piece of scotch...
View ArticleRose Wine Types for 05/09/2023
With the advent of warmer weather, rose wines have become a hot ticket with wine lovers, particularly those who want something cold for patios on the warmest of days.This is a pleasing way to beat the...
View ArticleOlder Wines for 05/16/2023
"Like fine old wine."We've all heard people use versions of this timeworn saying, which suggests that the aging of any wine improves it. That may be true for about 1% of the wines in this world, but it...
View ArticleRose for Summer for 05/30/2023
When we want to avoid cooking to keep the kitchen cool, dry rose wines are among the most perfect hot-weather refreshments to accompany salads and other uncooked summer meals.Memorial Day is the...
View ArticleWine Ed via Cell for 06/06/2023
You're standing in a wine shop facing a wall of obscure (to you) Italian red wines. One sounds familiar. And the price is fair. But you've never heard of the wine before: Salice Salentino (sal-ee-chay...
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