by Chris Freudenreich
Hazy blue skies were being bossed around by dark black storm clouds making it difficult to orchestrate any Sunday plan other than sit at home and watch an old movie or study for my advanced WSET wine exam in October. I had already gone to the Farmer’s Market and did not want to stay indoors, so I called my friend Jim (fellow WSET classmate and wine Geek) to ask if he wanted to go on a wine class field trip for his 48th birthday. He accepted and we were on Route 23 heading to the northwestern corner of New Jersey by 11 a.m. . I had no real game plan but had been in touch with the winemaker from Ventimigilia Vineyards a few weeks ago, hoping he would show me some vines, canes, shoots and stalks, to help me understand the viticultural portion of my wine class. Not having made an appo...
by Nancy Yos
We're talking about the good people at Gallo, of course. (Why do I add "of course"? Perhaps because we're going to talk about a delicious wine at a good price. That's Gallo. They spend their working lives going to the mat for us.)Their newest endeavor, at least at our store, is Apothic Red. It's a blend of zinfandel, syrah, and merlot, and I was hugely proud of myself when I first tasted it in an upstairs office because I guessed right about the zinfandel. The aroma of chocolate was my clue. Unfortunately, I guessed wrong about the rest of the blend.I'm not sure that anyone's brilliantly recognizing the grapes contributing to the rest of the blend, nor even the nature of the grapes themselves, matters much anyway. Not that syrah and merlot don't add their own characteristics, not that zinf...
by Richard Mark James
WORDS"You'll find my notes below on a broad cross-section of 36 Sicilian wines, including some fruit liqueurs too, which must pretty much represent all conceivable styles you'll come across from this island of mystery. Mystery, as I wasn't very familiar with the wines made on this big chunk of picturesque land floating off the toe of Italy, as the cliché goes; except for a couple of unusual and noteworthy, indigenous white varieties and a few very enticing dark and smoky Mediterranean reds enjoyed quite a long time ago. And like other Italian wines, you also have to delve a little deeper to work out what's what in terms of grapes, winery name or region on sometimes not very helpful labels (which is part of the charm too, you might well add). And because Sicily itself evokes vivid images a...
by Morris Lemire
What’s in a Name?Prosecco, that delightful varietal sparkling wine from the foothills of central Veneto, has been so successful everyone wants in on the action. From the flatter country of the eastern Veneto, to Sicily and even Chili, opportunists are cashing in on Prosecco’s success. With production climbing, quality declining and prices slipping, the original producers of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene have been forced to re-define who they are and the wine they make, based on place. They have learned the hard way that you can’t protect a wine brand based on a varietal, it is too broad an approach. Using the example of Pinot Grigio, they understand this perfectly well. Wine is not like vodka; wine is associated with where it is grown, place matters. Isn’t that a familiar refrain. You ...
by Ivan Loyola
You love white wine? Then there is a good chance you love oysters. They go together, hand in hand. Wine is good for you, we all know that. But not everyone knows that eating oysters is good for your health too. Great nutrition: Oysters are one of the best sources of zinc, the micronutrient that lies at the base of the biochemistry of sex. Oysters taste like the sea itself. There is something liberating about inhaling that little ocean breeze that comes when you put one in your mouth. Close your eyes and you can see a beach, the seaweed sprawled on the shore. You can even hear the rumor of the sea, its constant motion. Besides that, from a nutrition point of view, they are one of the best balanced of foods, containing protein, carbohydrates and fat. They also pack vitamins and essential min...
by Susan Sterling
Hosting a party, even a basic “wine and cheese”, can send some people around the bend, but it should be fun. Here are some tips to help you hold on to your sanity:• Keep it simple. Two or three cheeses are all you need. Get a big wedge of each, or a couple of smaller wedges, and lay them out. • Print labels with the names of each cheese, and the type of milk it’s made from, i.e. sheep, as well as whether or not it’s pasteurized. If you like, include a brief description of its flavours, if you have that information. I once posted these notes in champagne corks in which I’d carved a little slot to hold the paper. People still talk about it.• Forget the diet. Buy full-fat cheese, and set out some dishes of unsalted butter.• Create a festive setting. Get out your gra...
by Linda
On a pleasant Friday morning the sun was shining brightly, there were a few cumulus clouds and a light breeze. I started my usual Napa Valley journey of the day, but this one was like no other. This is the mysterious Sloan Estate, it has always been this way since it's inception, private and exclusive, it's not open to the public for tours or testing’s. Their website can only be accessed by their members and their published address is a post office box #. It defines Swanky and it certainly is.After several emails and telephone conversations with Marsha Chandler, Customer Relations Manager, Martha McClellan, winemaker and Stuart Sloan, proprietor, an arrangement was made for us for a tasting / tour of the Sloan Estate. Martha emailed me driving directions and we were on our way. She emph...
by Amanda Egan
A WORLD OF WINE - ONLINEIt would be a great party trick to say,� I have my Latour stored in London, my Romanee Conti stored in Hong Kong and my Grange stored in Sydney.� But you can do just that by subscribing to Cellar Link, a full wine investment service provider. This is no throwaway line for indulgent wine snobs, but a very serious online subscription-based portal that manages wine investors� cellars from �cradle to grave�.A relative newcomer to the wine investment scene, Cellar Link began operations in 2008 with a new $1 million wine management portal offering clients a revolutionary plan to safeguard and enhance the value of their cellars.Company director Eamonn Egan explains that the wine investment market is not necessarily a panacea for never-ending growth...
by Susan Sterling
There was a time when screw cap closures signalled that the contents of a wine bottle were of questionable quality, but that is no longer the case. With modern advances in the technology, and in the wine consumer�s attitude, a screw cap means, among other positive things, getting a bottle open more quickly. What could be wrong with that?You may have heard the word �Stelvin� used to describe a screw cap, however this is not a generic term, it is a registered trademark. What has happened is that the trade name has been appropriated to cover the whole category, much like Kleenex� has come to refer to facial tissue. Stelvin� closures, along with other brands of screw caps, have evolved to the point where they can look just as good, and sometimes better, than the tr...
by Linda
Wine Aging:We all heard about aging wine, it is a long process that takes place over years and there are so many elements that all play a roll of some significants to achieve the ultimate plateau of wine maturity.Just as Oxygen yellows newspapers and browns sliced apples, it spoils wine, but the process is more complex. There is also a beneficial oxidation that helps wine mature. Paradoxically, wine is improving even as it is being destroyed; time will kill a wine, but is also necessary to make it great. This dual process is visible after a bottle has been opened. Aeration of wine - whether by decanting a bottle, swirling one’s glass or sloshing a mouthful around - is a form of controlled oxidation. The aim is to improve the wine by helping it open up after it’s long confinement in...
