My one global comment is that the 2012s from Niederösterreich are absolutely delicious!
Read MoreRotgipfler and Zierfandler, not Riesling and Grüner Veltliner, were the local whites that flowed into the Habsburgs’ crystal. These largely off-the-radar white varieties hail from a thermal region, also known for its spas, just south of Vienna.
Read MoreBriefly, for the uninitiated: “orange” wines are made from white grape varieties. Rather than discard the skins once the juice is pressed from the grapes, the skins and juice remain together during the fermentation and aging processes. This contributes the orange color to the wines, along with tannins and denser texture, the latter two characteristics more akin to red rather than white wine.
Read MoreThe pickles’ vinegar notes mimic the wine’s acidic punch while the garlic and savory spices harmonize with the wine’s mineral undertones. Best of all, the jalapeño flavor in the pickles echos the hints of green bell pepper in the wine.
Read MoreHaving bought for restaurants and a retailer and being someone who attends trade tastings regularly, I have a good feeling for wine mark-ups. Naturally, I want to pay as little mark-up as possible. I do most of my wine shopping online.
Read MoreCellars are museums in their own right, cataloging the weather vintage after vintage and housing the odd, retired grape press and hand-corker. When in wine country, even the most inveterate taster occasionally must back away from the table (or tank) and put down the palette of glass, notebook and pen to rest the palate. Yet, research says it’s not the palate that becomes fatigued so much as the brain. Hence, museums on wine certainly won’t do.
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