by Rich Abbruscato
In wine tasting circles, you sometimes hear about four S’s - Sniffing, Swirling, Sipping and Spitting. They are meant to be informative for someone new to wine tasting. But sniffing and sipping are so obvious as to be a little patronizing. As for spitting, we’ll leave that to the professional tasters who can taste over 100 wines in a day. Most of us are just wine lovers; we’ll swallow. As for the Swirling, there is something to that. And we would like to add two more useful (and fun) S’s – Slurping and Sloshing. Swirling Swirling the wine in your glass does a couple good things. It magnifies the intensity of the aroma within the glass and helps to dissipate certain unpleasant volatile compounds. The wine in the glass releases aroma esters from the top surface of the wi...
by Stuart George
Several months ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that at least $550m worth of Rudy Kurniawan’s faked and forged wine is still in the market. This isn’t the first time this figure has been quoted – it appears in almost all recent articles about wine fraud. But is it accurate? Firstly, it is an extraordinarily high figure. Indeed, it is more than the total fine wine auction market in 2017, reported by Wine Spectator as totalling $381.7m. The $550m figure has been circulated since at least December 2016. To be clear, it is challenging to find accurate figures on fine wine fraud because it is an activity that by its very nature is covert and deceitful. It was claimed that Kurniawan (real name Zhen Wang Huang) was responsible for as much as $150m worth of fake wine over a 10-yea...
by Rob Jones
For foodies and wine aficionados, one of the great pleasures of travelling to new cities on holiday is exploring the local restaurant scene, and trying some local delicacies. For vegan wine and food lovers, however, this isn’t always straight-forward. Fortunately, in the last few years, restaurants have become more aware of the vegan diet, with many places now offering far more vegan-friendly options for both food and drink. If you’re thinking of booking a city break, here are three places to consider: Portland, USA Perhaps unsurprisingly, the city of Portland, OR, is a real haven for vegan visitors. Known for its micro-breweries, finding excellent vegan beer is not a difficult task here. There is also a wealth of vegan wineries in and around Portland, including the family-owned Ty...
by Amanda Wilson
As we have been sharing Moravian wine and converting just about everyone into loyalists, we’ve received many questions about the region. What is the climate? What is the terrior like? What are the major grape varieties grown? And I LOVE getting these questions! People are genuinely wanting to know why these wines they have never had before are as good as they are. So I thought I’d put together a little cheat sheet to help people get an idea of just how these delicious wines come to be. Of course the only way you will truly understand is to drink one! TERROIR The grapevine is one of the few plants which can fully and sensitively express the imprint of the countryside and locality in its final form - wine. Nowhere is this more true than in Moravia. The natural conditions of the main...
by Rich Abbruscato
Pairing wine with food is straight forward, but not in the way writers in columns might have you believe. It is important to remember that they are writing for entertainment. Their descriptions of the food tend to be elaborate and interesting. But rarely insightful as to the underlying food characteristics that drive their suggestions. The underlying characteristics are important to know for a successful pairing of food and wine. There is a lot of science behind tasting, but in food-wine pairing, there are a few that are especially significant. Let’s look deeper into acid, tannins and sweetness. What’s Really Going On Acid When consuming something with high acid levels, we quickly start to become desensitized. After the first taste, the acidity doesn’t seem quite so pro...
by Stuart George
Stuart George tells the story of his purchase of a special wine from the cellar of a special house with special owners... Faringdon House is a 14,510 square feet house in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, England. The house is Grade I-listed, protected as a “building of exceptional interest”. It was built 1770–85 for Sir Henry James Pye, who was the then Poet Laureate (an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom). Faringdon House was a remote, quiet country manor until Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners, inherited it from an uncle in 1918. From his youth, Berners was notorious for his eccentricity. Upon hearing that a dog could be taught to swim by throwing it into water, young Gerald decided that a dog could be taught to fly by being thrown out of ...
by Mark Aselstine
It's something that's come up a few times in conversations of late: which wine varieties are likely to benefit from climate change? There's already been a ton of ink spilled on which grapes are likely to turn out worse wine because the climate is warming, but there's been little talk about which grapes could actually benefit. Malbec: If you're familiar with the history of the grape, it's native to France (or at least evolved into the international variety we know there) but really didn't gain a foothold until it found its way to South America. The reason? Mildew is common and in cooler climates, Malbec ends up watered down and so light you can almost see through it. In South America, it ends up closer to Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon than anything else. As the climate warms, there are a ...
by Mark Aselstine
One thing I find about the wine industry, there's an awful lot of hype. Too much hype at times. Sometimes the hype far surpasses what those outside of the industry think, or even know about a region. To that end, here's 3 wine regions that have some challenges, despite the fact that the hype is very real: Santa Barbara County: What could be better, a world class wine region, sharing a name with a city that is often referred to the as American Riviera? To start, the wine region isn't all that close to downtown Santa Barbara. Which is a negative. After all, we don't equate Napa and San Francisco as being the same place right? Much of Santa Barbara County's wine region is at least that far away. Secondly, Santa Barbara has a challenge in that because it sits on a long stretch of east-...
by Mark Aselstine
Cool climate vineyards have become all the rage. In California we’re seeing it happen perhaps more quickly than it is elsewhere, largely because so many regions are already feeling planted out. It’s hard to find prime vineyard space in places like Napa Valley, the Russian River Valley and large swatches of Paso Robles. Those expensive sites and difficult to find land has caused farmers and vintners to search for sites that were once considered marginal. Whereas a decade ago these marginal spots likely were only the warmer inland regions where you knew the grapes would ripen, vintners are increasingly looking into colder sites as consumer preferences for more acidic wine continue to evolve. Here’s 3 spots where Cabernet Franc is starting to grow and grow really well within Califo...
by Ron Kapon
Around 35 years ago I walked over the border from California to Tijuana. I had been in San Diego on a press trip and had a free afternoon/evening. My main stop was at Hong Kong (not the city but the “gentlemen’s club’). The Zona Norte was among the largest red-light districts in North America. Without getting graphic it was for sex, drugs and rock & roll. When I was invited to spend 2 ½ days in Tijuana by an old friend who has a business there I accepted his invitation. Teloro is the largest solar business for the Hispanic market in California. WOW! Has the city changed? Hi rise condos, many facing the Pacific Ocean. American’s who work in the San Diego area, which is only 15 miles away, often purchase these condos for a fraction of the US prices and commute to work. The day b...
