(Originally published August 2008) Chardonnay seems to have become quite the divisive wine over the last few years. In one camp, we have the ABC folks. These Anything But Chardonnay squawkers are a vocal bunch, freely pontificating on the evils of overoaked, sweet, rich, unbalanced Chardonnay. (Often, we might add, while happily sipping on a [...]
Read more →(Originally published December 2007) California Pinot Noir… A difficult subject, if you ask me. As someone who counts California Cabernet as one of her very favorite wines, and who also loves the unique characteristics of “sense of place” wines such as Sancerre, Rhone reds, Barolo and Mosel Rieslings – it’s often hard to know why, [...]
Read more →(Originally published June 2007) Chile, that long, narrow country hugging the south west coast of South America, has become a major player on the world wine scene. The wine region climate falls somewhere between Napa Valley and Bordeaux, with hot, dry summers, cool nights and coastal influences. Spanish conquistadores were the first to plant vines [...]
Read more →(Originally published February 2007) The cork debate has seemed curiously quiet lately – except for a couple of recent blurbs about the possible downsides of screwcaps, the issue seems to be yesterday’s news. Or is it just that the collective media felt it had wrung out as much hype as possible from the topic and [...]
Read more →(Originally published June 2006) Why bother? Well… Ask virtually any sommelier about his or her favorite white wines, and Riesling will most certainly at the top of the list. It’s a classic wine grape. And it makes some of the most spectacular, cellar-worthy wines in the world. So why aren’t you drinking it? It occurred [...]
Read more →(Originally published April 2006) We recently had the opportunity to sit down again with Susan Sokol Blosser — a truly admirable person in the wine world, for her pioneering spirit, her commitment to sustainable farming, and for her delicious wines! These are the kinds of wines that are so good, they overcome a long day, [...]
Read more →