Wood Floor Refinishing and a Glass of Chardonnay

Date: Tue, Mar 9, 2010 Wine Tasting

© It'sGreg One of the nice things about wine is the way it blends so well with the many different aspects of life. Sure, you can drink wine from crystal goblets while eating agneau à l'ail et romarin (a lamb dish with rosemary and garlic) off of fine Haviland porcelain. But you can also drink it while you watch March Madness on ESPN and eat chips and salsa... I recently spent some time redoing the dining room of my home. It's a fine old ...

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Oh, To Live in Tuscany

Date: Thu, Mar 4, 2010 Wine Tasting

Tuscany is a beautiful place. Anyone who tells you different is either lying or French. I love Chianti. The Chianti hills of Italy, between Florence and Siena, nurture some exquisite grapes that produce one of the best wines in the world, in my opinion. Chianti wines are made primarily with Sangiovese grapes, but juice from Canaiolo, Cabernet, Merlot and/or Syrah grapes can also be put into the mix, along with a small amount of white grape juice. Chianti is a full bodied, slightly ...

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Wine Aerators

Date: Tue, Feb 23, 2010 Wine Tasting

Patience is a virtue, but not one of mine. I love my red wine, but sometimes I just don't want to wait for it to air out after I opened it. Why can't I drink it right now?! Someone else must have had the same impatient thoughts as me, because now you can buy a spiffy little wine aerator to make your red wine instantly drinkable. An aerator is a little fist-sized device that you pour your wine through. It forces air bubbles ...

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Best Wines from Valentines

Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

© Pink Sherbet Photography Valentine's Day has come and gone, but that doesn't mean the romance has to go out of your wine cellar. Here are a few subtly romantic wines that you can test out on a sweetie any time of year. Raspberry Chocolate Port from D'Vine Winery - If you like something dark and sweet at the end of the evening this sensual port might fit your needs. A little heavy on taste and alcohol, you can enjoy this port alone or ...

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The Nose Knows - Wine Aroma

Date: Tue, Feb 16, 2010 Wine Tasting

© star5112 While you might think of wine as something you taste, the simple truth is that a wine's aroma has a great deal to do with our perception of how it tastes. I found a piece recently by Stacy Slinkard that reminded of the importance of aroma (or bouquet) in the wine experience. While the tongue has a relatively limited repertoire of tastes (combinations of sweet, sour, acidic, and bitter), the nose detects a much larger array of identifable fragrances. And our brain ...

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My Wine Story

Date: Tue, Feb 9, 2010 Wine Tasting

© Or Hiltch Wine is the drink of romance. As we approach Valentine's Day, I wanted to share some of my story about how I got "into" wine. How I came to love the vine and make it an integral part of my life. My parents let me try my first glass of wine at about thirteen. I never saw my parents abuse alcohol, they would have a glass or two at dinner. Whenever we had wine, my mother used nicer plates, so I ...

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I Can't Smell Anything

Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 Wine Tasting

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Americans Are Drinking More Wine - Just Not from California

Date: Sat, Jan 30, 2010 Wine Tasting

© naotakem A number of sources (Decanter, Bloomberg, The LA Times) are reporting on some recently release sales numbers showing that the California wine industry had a bad year in 2009. Wine consuption in the US was up in 2009, by 2.1%. But California wine shipments dropped for the first time in 16 years. In other words, Americans are drinking more wine and less California wine. Add to this picture the fact that British wine consumers cut consumption of California wines by more than ...

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Fondue Wines

Date: Mon, Jan 25, 2010 Wine Tasting

© AMagill For Christmas I got my first full fondue set. To break it in, some girl friends and I threw a fondue party this past weekend. It was a learning experience in many ways but one of the best parts was testing out wines to go with the fondue. We used three types of wine for our fondue night. The wine to make the cheese fondue and the wine we served with it. We also made chocolate fondue, so there was yet another ...

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Sarah Palin to Speak at The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association

Date: Sun, Jan 24, 2010 Wine Tasting

© geerlingguy Sarah Palin, the former US Vice-Presidential candidate, will speak at this year's Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) convention in Las Vegas. I had to find that in a couple of places (like here and here) before I was sure I believed it. I don't usually think of Sarah Palin and alcohol as things that go together. But evidently the WSWA does.'Governor Palin is a great supporter of America's free enterprise system and understands that industries like the beverage alcohol industry play ...

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Can I Have a Glass of Chablis with That?

Date: Thu, Jan 21, 2010 Wine Tasting

I'm not sure how people develop their tastes in wine. Part of it I'd guess is cultural. It's easy to like what you grow up around. But most wine-consuming societies still offer a pretty large variety of choices. I'm partial to several reds. But for some reason my favorite white has always been Chablis wine. While most wines can be enjoyed by themselves, the real pleasure in a wine usually comes from pairing it with food. Chablis goes well with oysters (which I like ...

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New Years Eve: The (Mostly) Campagne Review

Date: Mon, Jan 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

© Velo Steve Pop the cork, it's the time of year for the bubbly. As we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next, we like to add a little tingle to the party. I don't know about you but I am always up for anything sparkling. This year, at three different New Year's (or close to) parties I got to try an array of different wines, each with different styles and price points. Cook's Brut - $7 The cheapest sparkling ...

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Boston Wine Expo and Festival

Date: Sat, Jan 16, 2010 Wine Tasting

© Adam Tinworth The Boston Wine Expo is next weekend (January 23-24). And while it is worth visiting, many people end up feeling torn between visiting Boston for the upcoming Expo or picking some other date and attending the Wine Festival there - which is already underway and runs until April. Grub Street Boston has a short guide to help you decide which choice is better for you. One big consideration: Wine media celeb Gary Vaynerchuk will be at the Expo next weekend...

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Wine Resolutions for 2010

Date: Wed, Jan 13, 2010 Wine Tasting

© Stewart Its a new year, I'm a year older (and hopefully wiser) and as I drank a cheap White Merlot in a Vegas hotel with a group of girl friends, I thought, "Maybe I should make some resolutions besides the old stand-bys." Every year we want to be better, look better and feel better. But what about drinking better? It may say a lot about me, or at least a lot about me in Las Vegas, that I thought about this but I ...

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