A Fresh New Look at Australian Wines From One of Its Oldest Brands: Hardys
Australia is one of the most underrated major wine regions in the US in part, I think, because of a simple …
Passion for Italian: The Grandi Marchi in San Francisco
Passion for Italian doesn’t describe the rapt attention of the trade audience at the Grandi Marchi tasting last month in SF. Instead, it describes the passion of Italy’s greatest producers for their own uniquely Italian grapes, and their efforts to improve, revive and communicate them to the world…
Spreading French Joie de Vivre to the Masses: Vin de France
Don’t tell Managing Director Valerie Pajotin that Vin de France are mere “table wines”, even though technically, that’s what they are. For Valerie and a contingent of her colleagues from Anivin – the trade group for Vin de France – these wines have the potential to become a global force majeure
The Far, Far West of Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Wines
Marcassin, Kistler, Littorai, Peter Michael, Martinelli. These were among the first wines I tasted from the Sonoma Coast and they changed the …
Port’s Competitive Advantage? No Competition at All
How does Port stay relevant in the largest, most competitive wine market in the world? Don’t change a thing. We’re spoiled here …
You know you’re a Zin Head …
Still basking in the glow of the 22nd annual ZAP Zinfandel Festival at the Concourse in San Francisco, I realize I’m a …
Why buy Chablis now
I had the opportunity recently to select the Chablis wines for a series of media events here in San Francisco and the …
Resolutions: Joe Bastianich on becoming the best taster you can be – don’t smoke
In October, the Culinary Institute of America graduated its largest baccalaureate class ever but all you have to do is look around …
Act II, part 3: The Languedoc is the South of France
Until recently, I believed the creation of a new foundation Languedoc appellation effective 2008 with its less onerous production requirements would cause …
Act II: The Languedoc in context, part 2
Gerard Bertrand clarified to me that in his opinion, grape varieties are tertiary to the character of the wine, after terroir and …