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Content about Acids in wine

May 15, 2013

Who holds the key to understanding food and wine pairing—women or men? Ask Deborah Brenner, and she’ll point to women. The founder of “Women of the Vine" wine and events simplifies wine and food pairing.

Who holds the key to understanding how to pair wine and food—women or men?

If you ask Deborah Brenner, she’ll point to women. After authoring the book, “Women of the Vine,” which shared stories of 21 women “who make, taste and enjoy wine,” Brenner decided to join their ranks with her own wine label, “Women of the Vine.”

April 16, 2013

A Delectable Artifact: Gypsy Canyon’s Angelica

Santa Barbara County winemaker Deborah Hall followed a series of cryptic historical clues--quill-scrawled letters, a frayed 18th century tome, and a modern-day DNA sample--to find treasure in the Sta. Rita Hills.

Early Spanish explorers may have consulted elaborate treasure maps in their search of the mythical gold of El Dorado, but Santa Barbara County winemaker Deborah Hall followed a series of cryptic historical clues--quill-scrawled letters, a frayed 18th century tome, and a modern-day DNA sample--to find treasure in the Sta. Rita Hills.

April 7, 2013

Sommeliers' Choice: Trophy Reds

Defining a trophy wine is no laughing matter.

So what is a ‘trophy red?’ Nearly every member of our panel of distinguished sommeliers asked that question when we asked them if they would like to contribute their favorites for this article. Our facile and somewhat macabre answer was “a wine to die for, or perhaps even to kill for.”

March 1, 2013

Who’s your Guest? Food and wine pairing personified

Sommeliers show off their hand-picked, iPad-based wine lists. Servers jockey to increase the beverage tab. Who cares what the diner really wants to drink?

Recently I met two pros who leave their superior attitude behind the bar and approach food and beverage pairing from the guest’s viewpoint. They instinctively know that “guest” is the Latin root word for hospitality.

February 4, 2013

Wines from Portugal are Coming

Watch for more Portuguese wine on the shelves in the coming year, as well as major promotional events featuring them.

Portugal is making great efforts to increase the awareness of her quality dry wines in the United States from all major regions, including Alentejo , Minho/Vinho Verde, Lisbon/Estremadura, Bairrada, Dao, Setubal, and Algarve, as well as Douro, from which Port comes. Douro has already made inroads for some of its dry wines, with Douro Boys portfolio as an example.

November 2, 2012

The Taste(s) of Chablis

We all know the taste of Chablis. Except when it tastes different.

Chablis brings up an image of “purity” – Chardonnay purity, at its best – and one could certainly argue that if the world could have only one white wine to drink with food, it would be Chablis. One could also argue that there are “better” whites, even more-luscious and more-complex Chardonnays produced just down the road along the Côte d’Or, but as a universal food white wine, Chablis can

August 29, 2012

Don't Stop Me If You've Heard This One

Interviews with winemakers generally follow well-trodden paths through vineyards before getting to the vat house.

Having a conversation with a talented winemaker is a lot like eating a strip steak. Once you cut away the fat, there can be a lot of rare meat there.

August 3, 2012

Lambrusco with a Grain of Sugar

In our rush to embrace dry Lambruscos, let's not get too fizzy-headed.

Sometimes we writers let our biases get in the way of our objectivity.

July 4, 2012

Culinary matching 101: wines for classic blackened tuna

Roy Yamaguchi's blackened tuna in soy mustard butter sauce was one of the original fusion style dishes, and also utilized for Roy's staff training, demonstrating how multiple wines can match a single dish for multiple reasons.

In the mid-eighties Paul Prudhomme’s blackened redfish permanently entered the vocabulary of average American restaurant-goers; but since then, you can argue that it is variations of blackened tuna that have become more ubiquitous in restaurants, bars and, no doubt, countless home

March 22, 2012

Why this whole "balance" issue is a crock

Why this whole "balance" issue is a crock: At first, when word started getting around about a year or two ago, it was easy to dismiss: the notion that wines over 14% alcohol, or else picked “overripe,” are somehow inferior...

September 2, 2011

In Defense of Big Wines

No matter how delicious they may taste, California wines with higher alcohol are not feeling the love.

Recently, I had the opportunity to drink a couple of big Napa Valley Cabernets from Knights Bridge Winery.

June 9, 2011

The wines of TAPAS defy convention...

Over 1,900 attended the Tempranillo Advocates Producers & Amigos Society Grand Tasting in San Francisco this past June 4; the third year in a row attendance has doubled.

April 8, 2011

White with Seafood, Red with Meat....

Few restaurants train beyond vague pairing platitudes such as “white with seafood, red with meat” and generally provide pairings to memorize. Teaching how wine and food

March 26, 2011

Blandy’s 200th Year Anniversary Tasting, NYC

What an opportunity to try some wines I’ve never experienced! Blandy’s Madeira celebrates its 200th Anniversary this year, and is hosting a series of tasting events to share their history and wine, including some older vintage

Blandy’s 200^th Year Anniversary Tasting, NYC

February 21, 2011

Rosés Blooming in February

After months of crossing the desert of winter, the arrival of the first 2010 pink wines awakens our palates and makes us think of spring menus and hot-weather, wines-by-the-glass programs.

February 11, 2011

Taylor Fladgate's 1855 Port

Before the American Civil War, before phylloxera wiped out the vineyards of Europe, before Darwin published his "On the Origin of the Species," a winegrower in the Douro Valley laid down a few barrels of his 1855 vintage. Last y