HOME AND AWAY IN WHITE
Ask any wine enthusiast a simple question: "what are you drinking nowadays?" You'll get surprising answers. Oftentimes they will not mention hoity-toity labels. They will [...]
PINOT-SYRAH CONFUSION
Last night the above bottle appeared in our weekly tasting where we try to identify blinded wines. This 2003 Penner-Ash syrah was still surprisingly young. It had [...]
IT IS CHINON WEATHER
As the days shorten and nigths get long, the mornings foggy, with cold humidity penetrating deep into our joints, winter doldrums begin to set in. Here in Northern [...]
A NON-TRADITIONAL TRADITION
Years ago when I began wine blogging for our local newspaper, my editor asked me to write a piece devoted to advice on what wine [...]
RIPASSO; FROM TECHNIQUE TO LABEL
My recent travels took me to Northern Italy. As I toured the scenic, colorful towns of the Cinqueterre, historic Mantua and Verona, and the two [...]
FLIP-FLOP WITH FOOD
Grilled Saratoga lamb chops for dinner, my favorite. Instead of the usual Southern Rhone reds I drink with these, I decided to open the wine [...]
A CALIFORNIA CAB WITH AGING POTENTIAL
The great ascent of Northern California wine, which began in the 1970's after decades of post-Prohibition stagnation, occurred emulating France. Domestic Chardonnay, currently ubiquitous and mundane [...]
LUNCH WINES
Last week we hosted some friends in San Francisco and found ourselves having lunch at Chez Papa, a French Bistro at Potrero Hill. Our guest [...]
FINALLY, AN OCCASION TO OPEN A 3 LITER
Yesterday was an important landmark in the history of my wine collection. I opened the above bottle, a 3 liter Schug Pinot Noir, circa 2003. [...]
OREGON IS LIKE SYPHILIS
"Oregon is like syphilis", I said the other day. The comment caused raised eyebrows. We were at our weekly Friday night tasting which involves sampling [...]