Château Pétrus Drives Record Breaking $1.5 Million Fine Wine Auction at Heritage
PHOTO: Heritage Auctions Today, I’m wearing my publisher hat, not my writer’s one. The following is a press release from Heritage Auctions. Having not attended, but having a keen interest in what’s happening in the world of wine, I see two distinct categories of who’s buying wine for what purposes. The first one is people who […]
Welcome to Hungary with Count Karolyi’s Grüner Veltliner 2016 ~ Wine of the Week
Sample wines provided by Quintessential Wines ~ Count Karolyi Grüner Veltliner 2016 PREFACE – PART 2 ~ WHITE WINES My structure: World Regions ~ FIRST HEART ~ THE WINERY: info is coming from the company’s own statements I can’t make up their history Nor am I to try SCIENCE ~ WINEMAKING I can’t make up their […]
Rutherford Dust Brought Karen MacNeil Squarely Into My Headlights, Now Into Yours
Most of you know Karen MacNeil as the author of The Wine Bible. Please appreciate it took her 10 years to write this tome, and was without the luxury of the Internet for reading and research. She’s a walking wine encyclopedia, and you have a chance to get to know her a little bit better.
Earth Day in Wine Country ~ You are what you eat AND DRINK
You are what you eat AND DRINK… Why have we missed stating the obvious DRINK part for so long? As you think about this question, consider where we’d be today, if – in the 60s – we would have chanted this concept, with “drink” also included. Then, our children would be further ahead in their […]
Why Are Palates So Eurocentric on the East Coast? Easy Question
I believe I may have found an answer, through my 25 years of observations, visiting both parts of the country extensively, by living on both coasts – each for extended periods of time, and having been to Europe, to see that part of life, too. Here’s what stuck me as pretty true, as I began […]
Swirling Wine Volatilizes Your Esters
Your nose is the key to enjoying a glass of wine, long before the wine ever hits your palate. The act of swirling your wine releases the bouquet. (The bouquet is a result of the wine making process. Aroma, on the other hand, is related to the scent of the grape.) If you see people […]
Tasting 101 Simplified for a Novice ~ Especially if you’re faced with teaching it
I was just asked by someone, who’s writing an article on tips of how to train your palate. He asked if I would be interested in sharing a tip for developing tasting chops.
Wine? Get over it with wine writer Jonathon Alsop
A long time friend and wine associate, Jonathon Alsop is also is the owner of the Boston Wine School. In the early years of my wine blogging (2006), this was one of my first focused blog posts, being duly fed up with wine’s pomposity. I wrote, Everyone Has a Palate. Wine doesn’t deserve the elitist hype […]
Adega Coop de Redondo in the Alentejo Region of Portugal
If you get a chance, you’ll be doing yourself a tremendous favor, when you discover the Wines of Portugal. As my host, Enoforum Wines introduced me to winemaker Pedro Hipólito of Adega Coop de Redondo (established in 1956). Based in the town of Redondo, in Portugal’s Alentejo district, this is a municipality of the Évora […]
10 Ways to Avoid Wine Country Crowds
Not everyone loves crowds. Those who do are ultra social beings and it’s great for them. (Keep it up!) It works, because the vast majority of people love being social and in crowds. But, there are others who prefer more intimate settings, so a list of ways to avoid wine country crowds needs its place, […]
