“It’ll be just like Hell today, but with more humidity,” joked the radio weatherman. I believed him; it was one of those brutal summer weeks in the low country – near Charleston, SC – where not only did the mercury-read more-
I was surprised to find the St. Laurent grape grown in the Napa Valley, since I usually encounter it only in Austria. In fact this wine is made from the grapes of one single vineyard in Napa. The wine has heady, sharp, boysenberry aromas and a bright flavor, light and
Fattoria Paradiso sits in Emilia-Romagna, a region of Italy that is just east of Tuscany, so it is not surprising that many of their great wines are made with the same grape as Chianti, Montepulciano and Brunello: sangiovese. In this case, the wine is made with sangiovese grosso, the traditional
Twenty years ago, there were three different, fairly well-known European grapes commonly referred to as “tokay” (with various spellings); today there is only one. These three grapes came from three separate countries: Italy, France and Hungary. With the launch of the European Union in the mid-1990s, grape names have been
From the organic Aquila del Torre Winery in the extreme northeastern region of Italy Imagine a wine that is layered and deep, echoing the soil and the hillside terroir where it is grown. And this is a white wine – perhaps not exactly what you might be expecting, since more
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. Known for pinot noir, the region has more than one grape to it—and more than
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% of all Central Otago vineyards. The Cromwell Basin is east
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. Bendigo Bendigo is just east of the
Even in a wine world where context is king, Donnafugata’s complex sweet wine called Ben Ryé - the product of air-dried Zibbibo (Muscat) grapes - stands out as uniquely tied to its place of origin. Second generation winegrowers Antonio and José Rallo, who helm the Sicilian winery, describe its production
I went to Valpolicella to learn about the region's most expensive, highly regarded wine: Amarone. Made from dried grapes, this wine is hotter than ever and the Italian press now gathers annually to taste new Amarone releases. I tagged along, hoping to discover what I have been missing. Instead, I
