… okay, so maybe it’s a bit unfair to compare a 2008 and 2007 Bourgogne from two different regions. Yet when a favorite wine store clerk suggested I try the Domaine Michel Gros 2007 (around $30, but splurge, it’s the holidays) and 2008 Domaine Rollin (mid-twenties?)I was game Both were very good, yet perhaps the [...]

  Blackstone Sonoma Reserve Pinot Noir 2009 With its velvet texture, nose of well sorted fresh grapes, and fresh flavors, this is a well balanced New World Pinot that can match many foods, especially salmon, pork, rare duck. Mazzocco Sonoma Petite Syrah Aguilera 2007 Very sleek and elegant wine that would pair well with a [...]

… so if you are reading this for the first time, before reading the "tale" below you should know that the goal of this exercise is to taste wines blind and deduce the vintage, grape, and other matters of importance. Typically, I have different stores (familiar with my objective) send me "themes" of wines in [...]

  Have you ever wondered about the Mencia grape? The first time I experienced it was at the Cervantes Institute in Manhattan, where wine program creator Helio San Miguel presented a checkerboard of wines made from the Mencia grape to try. Very interesting … A Do-It-Yourself and simpler approach is to ask your friendly wine [...]

  So a friend and I were at Barney’s today (a fashionable department store in NYC, with a bustling restaurant) and one look at the wine list presented an attractive opportunity to casually compare a Chianti Classico with Rosso di Montalchino. Why compare? As a student in a wine-related educational program, there’s the very real [...]

    So have you ever been in the position of blind tasting a lighter bodied, rather fruity wine, with bright red fruit flavors, minerals, and in some cases, a vertical structure? As a student in various wine educational programs, yes, I have – and when faced with several wines fitting this description, it can [...]

  This was such a fabulous restaurant in Collioure, France! It is about three hours from Nimes, and a very cute town. Many artists lived and painted here. Imagine Ibiza with the jetset and you will get a sense of the weather and the scenery. This was one of my favorite restaurants for the scene, [...]

    One of the hallmarks of a good sommelier is the ability to match customers with the right wine, as well as match wine to the correct dish. Only a floor sommelier can tell you which is easier, yet one of the things I like best about Aldo Sohm, head sommelier at Le Bernardin [...]

  Care for a Cava? When you reach for a Spanish Sparkler on your supermarket shelf, chances are it’s from Freixenet, given their 200 million bottle production. Did you realize that the family-owned Freixenet sells 160 sparkling and still wine brands worldwide? Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Spain to meet CEO Pedro [...]

Ah, Syrah! Do you prefer it young, fresh, and juicy with expression? Or sophisticated, well-rounded, yet seductive all the same? One of the best things about living the vida loca wine life is that there are so many helpful “enablers” all around you, feeding into your literal thirst for wine knowledge. Take wine store clerks, [...]

This is a very nice option for an elegant lunch in St. Maxim, as the area is a very active market place and the usual crowded outdoor cafes abound. The Convent Royal is very quiet, and qutie formal. The food is very good. The menu as I recall is three-course, and the wines a good [...]

Hostellerie de L’Abbye de la Celle This is a fabulous restaurant, especially when the weather is great and one can sit outdoors. Arrived just when it opened and thought the menu quite good and creative. I will find the pictures and load them, here is a link to the web site. Like most top restaurants [...]

J. Lohr is a California producer of many different varietals, and increasingly, many different vineyards. I had the good fortune recently to receive a case of 2008 wines and must say all are of exceptional quality for the price.  If I had to choose my two favorites, they would be the Chardonnay and the 2007 [...]

“Welcome to Cheval Des Andes,” says Bordeaux-born winemaker Nicholas Audebert, looking like a jet-set male model in a sleek Polo outfit. We are sitting in the gorgeous guest reception villa Nicholas designed to entertain journalists and other visitors, and about to taste a selection of his wines and enjoy lunch. Cheval Des Andes is a [...]

  Terraazas de los Andes is a beautiful property in Lujan de Cuyo with an amazing history. It began in the 1950s when Moet & Chandon, which belonged to the French company LVMH, sent their winemaker Renaud Poirier to Latin America to monitor the native soils of the region. Poirier proved the region of Lujan [...]

  When you visit “wine country” just outside Mendoza, Argentina, one of the best restaurants in terms of a gorgeous view, fabulous wine, and food can be found at the Ruca Malen winery. Ruca Malen’s story began in 1998 when Jean Pierre Thaibaud , former chairman of Bodegas Chandon, and Jacques Louis de Montalembert decided [...]

Today the American Sommelier Society invited their members to hear Nicki Pruss, winemaker for Stags Leap present her wines. I had met Nicki last year at the Master of Wine conference in Napa, as the winery invited us to tour the vineyards and meet Nicki and tsste the wines. Today’s tastings started with 2008 Arcadia [...]

Cecile Mathiaud pouring wine at the December 8, 2010 Burgundy Training Seminar Imagine how lucky you would be to experience Burgundy right in the middle of Manhattan! Several lucky journalists were able to experience six wines from Burgundy, and two Cremant (sparkling wine) on December 8th 2010.  Narrating the seminar was Anne Parent of Domaine [...]

  Thinking of rose champagne this holiday season? Everyone loves the happy bright  cheerful color of rose champagne, and also the taste that goes along with the extra addition from the Pinot Noir. The wines below are great food wines and many can also be served as an aperatif. The wines below were part of [...]

  Have you tried a themed tasting? In studying for my MW (Master of Wine) program, I typically ask wine stores to send wine blind (wrapped in bags) to try them with a friend before dinner and deduce what they are. Just recently, I decided to ask the stores to create "themed" tastings, which is [...]