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Features

Wines of the Past and Future in Alsace (Alsace – Part 5)

Becky Sue Epstein

3 min read

A Traditional-Style Small Farmer – That’s What Winemaker Agathe Bursin Would Call Herself (Alsace – Day 4)

Becky Sue Epstein

3 min read

A Way of Life: A Small Family Winery, Built on 500 Years of Alsace Tradition (Alsace – Part 3)

Becky Sue Epstein

2 min read

What If Your Mother Was a Winemaker? (Alsace – Part 2)

Becky Sue Epstein

2 min read

What Do You Talk About With Someone Whose Family Started Making Wine in the 17th Century? (Alsace – PART 1)

Becky Sue Epstein

2 min read

Latest

Central Otago Terroir Breakdown, Part 1: Gibbston and Wanaka

Features Wine Spotlight

2 min read

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. Read More

Central Otago Terroir Breakdown, Part 2: The Cromwell Basin and Bannockburn

Features Wine Spotlight

2 min read

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%...

Central Otago Terroir Breakdown, Part III: Bendigo and The Alexandra Basin

Features Wine Spotlight

1 min read

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. Read More

Has Italian Rose Finally Arrived?

2 min read

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...

What We’re Drinking – Gonzalez Byass “La Copa” Vermouth

Features Spirit Reviews Wine Reviews

1 min read

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,...

Actually, What is Vermouth?

Becky Sue Epstein

3 min read

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...

High quality sake in post-tsunami Fukushima

5 min read

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...

Wine is too cheap: Working harvest in South Africa (Part 2)

5 min read

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. Read More

Beyond Musar: The Evolution of Lebanese Wine

6 min read

A truly old world wine region looks for its modern footing. Read More

A Touch of Sweetness This Holiday Week? Consider Italian Dessert Wine

6 min read

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...

Tasting immortality

6 min read

Wines that are 30 years old are just getting started in Madeira. Read More

Cantina Tollo: Organic, Inexpensive & Delicious

2 min read

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...

Wine is too cheap: Working harvest in South Africa (Part 1)

6 min read

Winemaking is a physically demanding job. Read More

The search for high-quality Cava begins in Penedès

Tracy Ellen Kamens

5 min read

As sparkling wines continue to grow in sales in the U.S., wine drinkers are looking for alternatives to Champagne, but what about higher end imports from Spain? More specifically, is high quality Cava an oxymoron? Although oceans of Spain’s sparkling...

How Valais put the charm in Chasselas

7 min read

Chasselas is one of Europe's most widely planted white varieties, but it's more likely to end up in a juicer or a fruit basket than in a winery. Read More

Fifty Shades of Grenache

5 min read

I am judge K1. The foreman has that no-nonsense look of a judge who will tolerate no deviation and grant no mercy. Read More

Are you sure you’re an epicure?

7 min read

True Epicureanism is much more than the pursuit of pleasure. Read More

Is Coffee the New Wine? Embracing Coffee’s “Third Wave”

6 min read

“Toasted nuts, caramel, milk chocolate and tobacco,” sounds like a modern Bordeaux with about ten or ﬁfteen years of age. But we’re not talking about wine. We’re talking about coffee. Read More

balconyofumbria

Loving Italian Wine (in the Time of Coronavirus)

3 min read

What better time to celebrate the diversity of Italian wine, than right now, in the height of COVID-19? Read More

Montecucco: Proof Value Still Exists in Tuscany

4 min read

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...

Ten reminders to drink Madeira

5 min read

You can drink Madeira from the 1700s and it's still pretty good. Read More

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