M. Senegor

As we enter the traditional holiday period of autumn and winter, a new tradition that I find most annoying  has ingrained itself within the wine world: parties and celebrations that mark the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau. Last night our local Wine Wizard's was, as usual bursting at the seams as frequent and infrequent customers all flocked the place and devoured all seven cases of the wine Larry, the owner managed to procure. I am sure the same scene was repeated all over the U.S. among wine aficionados. My wife and I were among the minority of Larry's clients who refused the[...]

Those of you who live in the Central Valley of Northern California will remember 2011 for its most peculiar climate. We had the coolest summer this year of any I have experienced in 20 years. Then came early rains in September followed by a balmy October. My own fig tree in the backyard didn't seem to know what to make of it all. It usually begins giving fruit in late July, with sweet, juicy, orange sized purple mission figs abundant through August and September. Then as the weather cools, I get smaller, less sweet figs, less frequently, but it goes on[...]

The magazine Wine Spectator, usually a champion of impossible-to-reach, hoity-toity wines, recently published a long list of what they considered "value wines" (under $30), from around the world(10/15/2011 edition). I suppose with the ongoing economic crisis, they have to cater to a certain segment of previously wealthy readers who are still interested in fine wine. As I have known well, and contrary to common opinion, the best values are in non-California wines. France, Italy and Spain, so called "Old World" winemaking regions, featured prominently in the list. One red label that appeared in their list was Rosso di Montalcino, an[...]

My colleague and fellow wine enthusiast Peter Tuxen once uttered a truism that applies to all luxury goods. He was talking about wine when he observed that while there is a huge difference between an $8  bottle versus $30, there is not as proportionate a difference between a $30 bottle and $150. I have seen this phenomenon with cars as well. When you pay those extra tens of thousands for a Mercedes, the additional features you get, say over a Chevy, are not really worth the difference. What you're paying for is the luxury label, the bragging rights of owning[...]

In current times we seem to have a never ending litany of complaints about wine prices. The outrageous rise in many prices reflects increased demand for the drink, which here in the U.S. is booming like never before. Trendy regions like Napa, varietals like pinot noir, and numerous luxury labels all command eye-popping amounts. Even not so well known wines have been caught up in the avalanche. Recently I was shocked to see Heitz Grignolino Rose, a summer staple from a well respected Napa winery, more famous for its Cabarnets, which we used to guzzle at $8 per bottle a[...]

Have you ever experienced the heartbreak of corked wine? I have. Countless times. There is nothing worse than the anticipation of opening a much respected label, maybe one that has been stored for years, and the letdown afterwards when it is corked. Many don't know what to do with this. If in a restaurant you can return the bottle and ask for another. If you recently purchased the bottle from a wine shop, you can do likewise. But in our wine world, by the time we discover that a long cellared wine is corked, we don't even remember how much[...]