by Andrew John Chalk
Zinfandel is the Apple computer of wine grapes. No grape has a following like it. These oeno-moonies flock to San Francisco each superbowl weekend to attend ZinFest, AKA ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers), a tasting of virtually every Zinfandel maker’s wines. The winemakers themselves are there pouring, connecting one-on-one with their reverential disciples. It’s a hugfest. Or it was. I attended reliably for a decade – and then I stopped. It wasn’t the fact that ZinFest had grown from 2,000 people in a section of one of the halls at Fort Mason to 10,000 spilling like a corpulent’s spare fat out of both halls onto the deck outside (to the doubtless amusement of the sea lions swimming in San Francisco bay). It wasn’t the long lines. The deciding factor was the changed charac...
by Maria Shultseva
A Chinese proverb says “cheap things are not good, good things are not cheap”. But is it true for second wines which often claim to be ‘Grand vin quality for a fraction of the price’? While it is hard to disagree that first wine (or ‘Grand vin’) from top-notch estates can be one of the greatest pleasures, their prices are definitely outside of my drinking budget and I had to look for cheaper alternatives. Just recently I got a bottle of Reserve de la Comtesse 2010, the second label of Pichon Lalande (Second Growth). This second wine from Pauillac is known for its velvety texture and feminine character due to a higher percentage (46%) of Merlot in the blend. On the palate it was rich, yet elegant and smooth, displaying cassis, black cherry, cigar box and forest floor notes. Alth...
by Bok Nan Lo
"Wine must always be shared… I think it would be a sad day if one were to drink a bottle of Pétrus by himself.”- Dr. Gordon KuOn my birthday, I received a few messages asking me what wine am I going to drink that night? A 1968 Bordeaux? I got no answer for them that day, as my wife had booked me a dinner at a Japanese restaurant Shinji, and thus for the dinner, I brought the bottle of sake I bought from Otaru, Hokkaido during last year’s ski trip. Nobody believed a wine lover like me had gone without wine on my big day! Half way through my sumptuous dinner, I received a call from Christie’s. What a birthday surprise! They gave me a ticket to dinner at Au Jardin served with top Bordeaux 1982 labels. I was so happy that day! My wishes were granted! I had celebrated my last year...
by Christopher J Davies
Story & Photos by Christopher J. Davies, A piece of Venice’s storied past, restored with love and patience. That is what the Bisol family of Prosecco fame can be proud of today. They had the vision to revive the long forgotten indigenous Dorona grape on the Island of Mazzorbo. A timber bridge connects this island with the Isle of Burano, and it is just a stone’s throw from Torcello, home of the historic Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. Venice was a major maritime power during the middle ages and the most important shipping point for the world. In 1300 ad Venice was known as the most prosperous city in Europe.Mazzorbo is the place where the original settlers of Venice first resided. Back in the day, they farmed the island and grew Dorona grapes to eat at the table and produced Dorona ...
by Bok Nan Lo
Duhart Milon, a 4th growth classified Bordeaux wine has been off my radar for unknown reason. Ok I try to explain a bit, the price of Duhart Milon has gone through the roof when Chinese discovered this label to be almost a Lafite clone, and also a property that belongs to Lafite. Chinese even gave a nice name to this label, as “小拉菲” (means “Little Lafite”). Duhart Milon, previously also known as Château Duhart Milon Rothschild, is a winery in the Pauillac appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The Château has 175 acres (0.71 km2) planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Quick facts about Duhart Milon:Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon 70 to 80%, Merlot 20 to 30%. Length of ageing in oak barrels: 14 months (50% new)New to Duhart Milon? Hear...
by Michelle Valentine
For my birthday, I received a beautiful copy of Good Housekeeping’s “Wine Book” by witty author Jonathan Pedley. I now keep the book on my coffee table to create conversation when guests are visiting my home. The book begins with the practicalities of enjoying wine (buying, storing, serving, drinking, choosing complementary foods). Then the book discusses fascinating detail the business of growing grapes and making wine. The journey around the world’s vineyard regions is the largest part of the book, showing how wines differ throughout the world and featuring maps and beautiful, glossy photos.A wonderful chapter titled, “The New World” – South America – states “the raw potential of Chile and Argentina remains superb. Chile has a head start, but Argentina is now beginning ...
by Jonathan Hood
Sometimes I approach the world of wine in a light and fluffy manner. I try desperately to engage everyone and to not alienate anyone. This is inherently impossible given the diverse nature of the human race, and the fact that I toe the line of what is dignified with my verbose, sometimes crass, and neurotic babbling. That said, please note that if you do not like one post that I put up the next may very well be as different as a tabby cat is to my Aunt Thelma (who more closely resembles a honey badger in temperament).This post is about a topic that will stretch your brain if you let it.I was asked the other day, “What do you mean by awareness?” There are some people that go through life without really participating in it or understanding what is happening around them. There are others ...
by Jerry Greenfield
The Wine WhispererIt would be pretty difficult to find someone who doesn’t like Italian food…except those who are on a low-carb diet. And with all that pasta, red sauce, and Parmagiano Reggiano cheese come barrels full of wine that are made to go along just perfectly.Problem is, when we think Italian, it’s hard to get beyond Chianti and other great wines from Tuscany. Of course, we do venture occasionally into the Piedmont area way up north, enjoying the “Three Bs”… Barolo, Barbera, and Barbaresco. They’re rich reds, with a lot of body, flavor, and satisfaction. But there are some other areas, very close to Tuscany, that deserve our attention, and their wines deserve a try. Or two.Italy is the only country in the world where wine is made in every single region. But I’...
by Andrew John Chalk
by Andrew ChalkMost diners are aware of the position of sommelier in a high-end restaurant. The waiter dedicated mainly to wine service, but also spirits, aperitifs, digestifs, cocktails, beer, coffee, tea, water and, sometimes, cigars. There isn’t a dedicated waiter for meat, or fish, so why wine? It turns out that when wine is a very large part of a restaurant’s sales it becomes a full time job. Existing inventories must be maintained of a product that itself evolves as it gets older. A vintage wine that offered a diner a certain flavor profile this year may be unrecognisable just two years on. And yet, new supplies of that same wine vary, vintage by vintage, with the weather. Some wines, particularly european wines from temperate and continental climates, can differ out of all recog...
by Marcella Newhouse
A friend of mine, who is actually a wine maker in Barbaresco, suggested that Serralunga d’Alba, of all of the Barolo villages, is the most beautiful. You know, I think I have to agree with him. I hadn’t thought about it much before; La Morra is really my favorite village for sentimental reasons. But after pondering it, I realized that Serralunga is magical. You can appreciate its magnificence both from up close and far away. At night and in the daytime, it is always a sight to see.Or maybe I am just agreeing with him because he said I was more popular than ‘La Bela Rosin.’“Who is ‘La Bela Rosin’,” I asked him?(I have to pause here to say that I cannot effectively tell many of my Italy stories without prefacing them by other Italy stories. And this particular story is no exc...
