Monastrell: It’s From Murcia

Meg Houston Maker
Features
9 min read
“Smile!” I felt the vineyard stones crunch under my feet as I backed up for the photo, squinting and grinning in the clean midday light. Head-trained vines stood in stiff regiments behind me, the scenery yielding to craggy mountains against a backdrop of crystalline sky. It was my fourth and

2011 Masut “Block 11” Pinot Noir

David Honig
Wine Reviews
1 min read
Rich, lively, and spicy, this offers a blast of flavors begging for a unique food pairing. Mocha on the nose really stands out, and not any wimpy American coffee and milk chocolate mocha, either, but espresso and dark chocolate, all with a background of cherries. Cherries take front stage on

Sicily’s Island Getaways

Tracy Ellen Kamens
Features
5 min read
It was a summer scene like any other – the sky had clouded over, the air had turned cool and towel-wrapped children waited with their parents for the ferry back to the mainland. Only this wasn’t Sag Harbor or Block Island; instead, we were on Favignana in the Egadi Islands,

2008 Cipriani San Martino Bolgheri Superiore

David Honig
Wine Reviews
1 min read
Rich, dark, and complex, this will compliment the richest meals. The nose has deep plums, raspberry, pepper, and spice. Plums, cassis, and raspberry lead on the palate, with mocha underneath. Raspberry, black pepper, and allspice come through on the mid-palate. The finish lingers. Lightly drying tannins are matched by acids.

Aging potential? What aging potential?

W. Blake Gray
Features
5 min read
This is a common sentence in wine reviews: "Should continue to develop for 10-12 years." You see it all over the Wine Spectator. In the Wine Advocate, it's characteristically more enthusiastic: "Explosive flavors of dark chocolate, hazelnut parfait drizzled with fresh Tahitian vanilla sauce and crushed, fire-roasted Bing cherries. Will

When Thinking of Red Also Think of Rosso

Mike Riccetti
Feature Stories
4 min read
When I saw Stefano Campatelli again in Houston in late January, I commented to him once more that “Baby Brunello” is a terrible moniker for Rosso di Montalcino, a diminutive that immediately describes it as no more than second-best. He nodded, and replied diplomatically that there was not much that

Travel in a Bottle

David White
Features
2 min read
Now that Independence Day is behind us, the summer is in full swing. Barbecues, hikes, and lazy days at the pool abound. And most of us are itching to leave town -- eager to spend some time away from work, escaping from it all. Wine enthusiasts are fortunate in that