Fabulous evening with Bob Pepi, wine consultant and founder of the Eponymous brand of California Reds. Bob’s father bought land in Napa in 1966, grew grapes, and acquired some of the best vineyards in the Napa Valley. Wine Spectator called Bob’s first Cabernet Sauvignon “a Cellar Selection.” Eventually his family sold to Kendall-Jackson in 1994 [...]
Clos de la Siete 2009 (Michel Rolland) This is a luscious, full-bodied wine (50% Malbec, 30% Merlot, 10/10 Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah) from Mendoza with a rich, ripe, perfumed nose of deep luscious black fruit, a very intense palate of dark fruit, very balanced tannin and acidity, and long finish with more dark rich ripe [...]
Felidia is the fabulous venue for our Wine Media Lunches — it is owned by PBS star Lidia Bastianich — – and you can imagine the pleasure in being invited to join Felidia’s Executive Chef Fortunato Nicotra, along with Michelin-star Sicilian chef Patricia Di Benedetto and Azienda Agricola d’Alessandro for a Sicilian Food and Wine [...]
Today was the first day of the Languedoc Roussillon Study & Certificate Program offered by the French Wine Society with support from Sud de France. Twenty lucky students (most of whom I knew through my travels) crowded into the Maison de la Région Languedoc-Roussillon. A very successful first day … of course impossible to [...]
Do you like sulfates in your wines? No one does … Last night at Eataly (the new Italian food specialty megastore in Manhattan) I discovered Domodimonti, a boutique winery located on the picturesque countryside of Montefiore dell’Aso, in Le Marche Region, Italy. In addition to Domodimonti we tasted other specialty items from Marche, as [...]
Do you spend much time thinking about the sparkling water you enjoy with your meal? Maybe you should. Ferrarelle, the most popular sparkling water in Italy, brought World Champion Sommelier Luca Gardini to the elegant The Leopard at des Artistes (one of Manhattan’s top restaurants) to show the city’s most influential wine journalists what to [...]
“Welcome!” exclaims affable Emanuele Rabotti, his exuberant and expressive face lighting up at the appearance of long lost (very lost!) visitors. Perhaps the first thing you should know is that Emanuele i(beyond being a very nice and fun guy) is that he is the owner and winemaker behind Monte Rossa winery, one of the oldest [...]
Quick! What is one of the most sensual, aromatic products in the world, right up there with exquisite perfume and exotic flowers? Wine, of course. The ability to describe the aromas and flavors of wine in a way another person…
Panos Kakaviatos, who I see almost everywhere in the world, wrote a great news analysis for Meiningers Wine Business International about the new Chinese Palate. He was in Shanghai to judge the International Wine challenge and spoke with several officials and consumers about what was going on in the wine world. From the [...]
Aurielle 2008 A very smooth and well balanced California cab marked with “restraint” in terms of keeping med+ acid, smooth tannins, richly concentrated fruit in balance. The use of oak is only apparent from its benefit in terms of giving oxygen to the wine (new french oak and used). Lots of Bordeaux cherry, some [...]
