Too often in our culture, wine is treated as too complex for everyone to enjoy, or (on the other end of the spectrum) as a brand to be mass-marketed.
Wine, in my opinion, should be enjoyed without pretense. The goal of this blog is to help demystify the beverage for those who might not have the time or resources to study it.
Please, Please, Please, age your wines! This Austrian red isn’t exactly known to be la crème de la crème. Austria isn’t exactly the biggest player on the the international wine scene, and an obscure blend that doesn’t even make the label is not the most New World friendly approach. Don’t let that fool you. “Cuvée [...]
As Hurricane Irene bristles against the East Coast, a cool damp breeze rustles in through my window; and as I relax from a week’s work, I find myself looking for a wine that is deep enough to get lost in, on this rainy evening. I immediately thought “Italy.”
I picked up the Oddero Barolo off my shelf and looked at the vintage: 2004. At seven years old, this might be a bit too young, but I’ve made the mistake of over-aging Barolo before, so I decided to go for it.
Thank God I did. This wine is exactly what I was looking for. Opening the bottle I got this whiff of something old, but rich. This wine is an adventure unto itself, like going through a box of old photos in the attic that you’ve never seen before. There is something familiar about it, whether it’s the dark, flavorful fruit, or the soft, smooth, elegant tannins, or dark yet floral nose and deep red color, I’m not sure which. And yet it feels as though all these comforting characteristics hide behind a thin vale of an ancient history, like a silk sheet over and intricate and lavish piece of quality furniture, that while a bit faded with age, is even more gorgeous than the day it was built.
Grape Radio did an on-site vineyard interview with Virginia winemaker Jim Law. This video (in two parts) offers great insight on several fronts: understanding soil types, understanding some important vineyard-building concepts, and getting a sense for the mentality of a serious winegrower. Take a look: And part two:
Since our first post focused on Bordeaux, this is a great opportunity to talk about cellaring your wines. We will discuss reasons to cellar, which wines are best to cellar, and good cellaring technique. So why cellar? The best analogy that I have been introduced to explain the value of cellaring is to imagine a [...]
When you think of the renowned wine regions of the world, France more than holds its own when stacked up against other countries; and some of the best of these French wines come from Bordeaux. If you are not familiar with wine from Bordeaux (essentially pronounced like “boar-dough”), the region produces both white and red [...]
