by Mark Stephen Souder
So, you’ve been invited to dinner. What to bring as a thank you to your host? Wine makes the perfect host gift. Here are some tips to help you avoid disappointment or embarrassment.A host gift is just that. It belongs to the host no matter how much you want to drink that bottle. It’s very likely that your host may have specifically paired wines with the meal. If you are set on drinking something you brought, arrive with a chilled Prosecco or Champagne which might signal the host you’d like a little pre-dinner bubbly, though it could also be saved to go with the dessert course. No, you don’t get to take it home if it doesn’t get opened.There is no reason to break the bank when buying a host bottle. Even if your hosts are connoisseurs who collect $50-plus wines, there are plenty of...
by Andrew John Chalk
Jorge Matetic, a fifth generation Chilean of Croatian descent took at least two brave moves in 1999. First he decided to diversify his family’s business interests from such prosaic essentials as fence wire into wine production. Second, he decided to plant vineyards in the area of Casablanca, far off the beaten track of the country’s lush Valle Centrale. He bought no less than 46,000 acres. To put that into perspective it is roughly half the total vineyard area of the whole of New Zealand. Mercifully for the price of Chilean wine, only about 300 acres are planted to vines. The rest are woods, crops and sheep pasture. Since those frontier days, the Casablanca region has become quite a popular viticultural area and is being recognized as the site of distinctive Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and...
by Richard Mark James
Originally published on WineWriting.com by Richard Mark James:http://www.winewriting.com/2013/07/chablis-part-3-geoffroy-moreau-seguinot.html"On-foot" has been regrettably dropped from 'Chablis: final destination 3...', as predictably more efficient transport was required this time to spread the net a little wider. See "Chablis on foot" part 1: Chablis Wine Awards and "Chablis on foot" part 2: Droin, Chablisienne, Long-Depaquit, Fèvre for previous ramblings around Chablis and catching the drift. This last instalment explores the neighbouring villages of Beines and Maligny a tad, taking in Domaines Alain Geoffroy, Louis Moreau and Séguinot-Bordet. It also tries to simulate an elevated view of one particular snapshot of the area's vineyards ("you had to be there" type-thing, a vantage-poin...
by Andrew John Chalk
by Andrew Chalk(This article first appeared in CraveDFW.com)I first encountered Zinfandel as a student when I tasted Ridge Vineyards ‘California Coast Range’ Zinfandel for what was, for an impoverished graduate student, a king’s ransom of $6.99. It is no longer made, but that wine engaged me to hunt out Zinfandel: a fruity, forward, red wines that offered a (usually) lower-priced alternative to Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. I did not know at the time that Zinfandel was an almost universally scorned blending grape that was the backbone of such headache-inducing abominations as Gallo Hearty Burgundy. Because my first Zinfandel was made by one of California’s best wineries I had (through good advice as it happens) walked into Zinfandel wine making at its best. I immediately gave the g...
by Richard Mark James
Originally published on WineWriting.com by Richard Mark James: http://www.winewriting.com/2013/06/chablis-on-foot-part-2-droin.htmlThe first instalment of this mouthwatering Chablis mini-series can be found here: "Chablis on foot" part 1: Chablis Wine Awards - http://www.winewriting.com/2013/04/chablis-on-foot-part-1-chablis-wine.htmlThis time, join me on a little walking and tasting tour around Chablis town itself taking in four nearby wineries (there are several more of course), which can easily be squeezed into a leisurely day-out with a spot of lunch sandwiched inbetween (when in Rome...): no car required, and a good way to burn off those calories from eating too much cheese, as you do in France (tour could also be done by bike, as long as you 'spit out', man)...Across the not-entirely...
by Andrew John Chalk
Recently sixteen Texas Viognier wines went head to head competing with each other, two California Viognier wines and a Viognier from the modern home of the grape, Condrieu, France in a blind taste test judged by seven professional sommeliers. The result, Texas wines took the top six spots. The full results are here: RANK (1 is highest) WINE NAME 2012 Pedernales Cellars Reserve ($40) 2011 Brennan Vineyards ($17.50) 2012 Becker Vineyards ($15) 2012 McPherson Cellars ($14) 2012 Lost Oak Winery ($21) 2012 Pedernales Cellars ($18) 2011 Melville 'Verna's", Santa Barbara County, CA ($25) 2012 Flat Creek Estate 2012 Perissos Vineyard and Winery 2010 Calera, Mt. Harlan CA ($34) 2011 Cross Timbers Winery 2010 LightCatcher Winery 2012 Llano Estacado Winery, TX Raider 2011 Landon Winery 2011 Sain...
by Chain Bridge Cellars
If your friends know you're a wine lover, we're pretty sure this scenario is one you've experienced. You and your closest friends or family members have gathered at a swank restaurant to celebrate someone's birthday or anniversary. Everyone's ready to eat and drink something delicious, and that festive sense of anticipation is in the air."Well, you're the wine expert!" someone says, laughing heartily while handing you a list the size of a phone book. Sure, you think. I can handle this.As the waiter starts taking orders, you realize that three people have ordered an Asian-inspired fish dish, while a couple of others have ordered rack of lamb, and one a hanger steak. Some friends! You think, as your palms start to sweat and you start to panic. These same dastardly fish and steak order...
by Joseph Stephens
Fine wine often brings to mind images of French rolling hills and elegant dinners; however, Italy's twenty regions bring to the pallet an array of fine wines for your dining pleasure.Italian wine making enjoys tradition rich in both modern and rustic methods, although much of the country's wineries now employ scientific and technological tools to create quality wines. The country's wines are made primarily from two types of grapes, Nebbiolo and Sangiovese. The Nebbiolo grapes are used in the northwester part of the country, creating the red wines Barolo and Barbaresco. The Sangiovese grapes create one of the better-known Italian wines, Chianti, and are native to the central Tuscany and Umbria regions. Italy's wines are divided into four categories based on origin, quality, and purity. When...
by Mark Aselstine
California is known for creating rock stars out of our winemakers. It’s a strange phenomenon to much of the rest of the world, but many wine drinkers can name off a single winemaker’s multiple projects without much thought-as opposed to a vineyard specific mindset that is seen elsewhere. Anyway, that winemaker centric mindset made me ask myself: who is in the next wave of great winemakers?Anthony Yount: Anthony does his day work at Denner Vineyards in Paso Robles. Denner is known for their Syrah program as well as their location. Their estate vineyard is located an entire golf cart path away from the famed James Berry Vineyard next door. Anthony also has a white wine label of his own named Kinero which was founded when he took over Denner’s wine production and they didn’t have...
by Richard Mark James
Jean-Louis Denois, Saint Paul de FenouilletThere's a lot of talk about "low or no sulphite" wines, and enough examples out there to remind us why most winemakers DON'T go down this more challenging route (sulphur dioxide and related additives are basically used as anti-bacterial agent, anti-oxidant and preservative). Jean-Louis Denois, perhaps better known for his pioneering still, and sparkling, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines from Limoux to the north over the 'border' in the Languedoc (as well as experimental plantings of Riesling and Gewurztraminer in the late 90s, deemed 'illegal' at the time by narrow-minded bureaucrats), takes a pretty rational scientific view of this approach while claiming "there's just no alternative." In 2006, he bought a couple of vineyard plots lost between Sai...