Briefly, 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 MoreOver the last year, I tracked every single glass of wine I sipped. I did not include the wines I simply tasted. I can’t even fathom that. I’m at 85 pages of sipping wines - without tasting notes. Needless to say, there have been mind-blowing, once-in-a-lifetime wines; good wines; acceptable wines; and wines I couldn’t bring myself to swallow a second time. Reminiscing through the list tonight, I’m not surprised at how few delightful wines - wines with energy, wines that made me joyous with their flavor and balance – I found.
Read MoreAs the translator, Elaine Trigiani describes, with regard to a true love or a perfectly harmonious wine, “It’s nearly impossible to describe or explain, but you now it when you’re in it.” This is a great encapsulation of Salvo Foti’s thinking and writing.
Read MoreThis past week, a bus filled with 20 Masters of Wine traveled 2,000 kilometers around Sicily. It was a phenomenal trip; I wish we were still there. Alas, we did leave, but not before saying grazie. The old guard was literary. They were also quite competitive. You didn’t want to be giving the last thank-you of the trip – so many grazie to top!
Read MoreTo meet Sir George was a great honor. This Kiwi legend comes across as a genuinely inquisitive, down-to-earth gentleman. Sir George’s venture into wine began more as a hobby than a career. He started in 1961 by leasing an acre of land from his father. Begun as a family venture, it remains so – in spite of the fact that Villa Maria is one of New Zealand’s three largest wineries and exports to over fifty countries!
Read MoreJudging many wine events, I was thrilled (no exaggeration) by his use of statistics to prove the coherency of our tasting results. Not only did he use statistics to prove inarguably whether or not our scores meant something, he imbedded two sets of eight blind wines in our tastings that were not Turkish wines to judge our consistency.
Read MoreI’m here to report that Texas grape growers and wineries are making some marvelous juice! I can’t wait to see the list of winners because I’ll be ordering many wines ASAP. I just hope they won’t already be sold out, as I know many are small-production wines.
Read MoreGiven my affection for Pinot Noir and Burgundy, and given the fact I’ve spent an incredible number of hours evaluating the quality of wines in order to pass the Master of Wine exam, I take quality references very seriously. However, within quality designations, there’s wiggle room. Last night provided a perfect example.
Read MoreThis Wednesday I attended an engaging, exploratory lunch hosted by Wines of Germany and led by my friend Jeannie Cho Lee MW. Here are some of the take-aways I found most fascinating: whereas Westerners tend to measure how much acidity is apparent in a wine, Asians tend to focus on how acidity feels on the palate; the progression of food and wine in a Chinese meal is quite different from that at a Western table….
Read More“Paul really likes to use ‘heritage’ clones.” Calera, Swan and Mt. Eden are among their Pinot Noir selections and Wente, Bato and Rudd are among the Chardonnay plantings.
Read MoreNapa is always beautiful in February. Sunny and clement, her fields are bursting with mustard’s cheery yellow blooms. This year, Napa was a particularly lovely place to be as – for the first time – I sat on the other side of the table.
Read MoreGiven the spirit of the holiday season leads to many shared meals and festive moments with friends, I’ve not surprisingly encountered plenty of pals hesitant to offer me a glass of wine. I can see it in their eyes and hear it in their pre-calculated verbal presentations. They seem to be pleading with Dionysus that I will want one of their small batch beers. Each time, I guess that they feel more confident on their beer choices than their wine choices.
Read MoreI am thrilled and honored to be part of the new vintage honored this year, bringing the Institute's total living membership to 299 as of this writing.
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