To celebrate Vermouth Day, I decided to open a couple bottles of La Pivón from Madrid. But maybe I should talk about what Vermouth is, before I get specific about this one. Because I’ve found that most people don’t really...
This should be a success story. In 1990, Fukushima prefecture got zero gold medals at the Japan sake awards. This was just when Japanese consumers started to pay more for premium sake, so the local government took the embarrassing shutout...
The cellar hands had little interest in tasting wine with us. Maybe they didn't like the taste, or maybe working at a winery was as much a job to them as picking apples or working in a factory.
Easter and Passover are upon us, even in this most uncertain of times, so adding some sweetness to our lives might just provide a much-needed lift this week. (Or anytime, really.) Chocolate is often part of the holiday mix, as...
Cantina Tollo’s Andrea Di Fabio knows how to instantly bring his new organic line into my good graces. “It is really important to us,” he says, “that you don’t have to spend too much money to drink quality wine.” I’m...
I’ll be honest: when I first start hearing about Montecucco in the wine-blogosphere — they’ve been attempting to increase its international noteriety for a few years — my first thought is that I don’t need another Tuscan Sangiovese in my...
Headed to Bardolino, Italy, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Though granted DOC status in 1968 for its deliciously light reds, industrialized, bulk production in the 1980s tarnished the region’s reputation. But the recent resurgence of Chiaretto, the area’s rosé,...
This is the second in a three-part series on the terroirs of Central Otago. After Gibbston and Wanaka, last week, here is a look at the largest winegrowing areas: The Cromwell Basin and Bannockburn, which combine to account for 70%...
This is the first of a series of three articles on the terroir of Central Otago, the most southerly wine growing region in the world, at 45 degrees South, marked by a dry, semi-continental climate.
This is the last of a three part series on the terroirs of New Zealand’s Central Otago. After Gibbston and Wanaka and The Cromwell Basin and Bannockburn, we are finishing with Bendigo and The Alexandra Basin, the two lowest elevation, most easterly sub-regions.
Italy is currently the world’s number one producer of wine, and the top exporter to the US, yet Italian rosé hasn’t been more than a bit player in the pink market. Though actually the world’s second-largest exporter, much of Italy’s...
Cocktail lovers, take heed. This new sherry-based vermouth from Gonzalez Byass is going to give you something to shout about. It’s a revival of the 19th century La Copa vermouth, made from 8-year old Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherries, with wormwood, clove,...
Now that we are all drinking rosé wine year-round, you’ll want to hear about this lesser-known, wonderfully dry and minerally rosé from the north of Italy: Chiaretto. Late last fall, in search of Chiaretto, I arrived at the shore of...
The Ben Ryé name might mean “son of the wind” in Arabic, but given the difficulty of farming the grapes, Donnafugata might have been forgiven for naming it “son of a bitch!”
