How's your turkey like them apples?
When my English in-laws recently asked me to explain Thanksgiving, I found myself stumbling over my words. They already knew the bit about the Pilgrims (they were English, too, after all), so I finally blurted, “Basically, you get together to watch football and eat a really big meal.” It sounded completely ridiculous, making me think [...]
Drink your wine and eat it, too
Add some class in your kitchen using Pinot Noir for roasted duck breast, Zinfandel for lamb and more.
Oak or oak-like?
I find the smell of oak really seductive. One sniff of an oak barrel and I’m transported to cellars and tasting rooms from Sonoma to Siena.
Wines we love this season
Each fall, the fashion industry predicts the hottest trends for the season—from skirt length to nail polish color—and each fall, I care a little bit less
A Spanish Bodega off the beaten path
We were on our way to a winery in a craggy hill town off Spain’s Costa Blanca, and were childless for only the second time in two-and-a-half years.
Look for nice legs and a good backbone
We’ve covered sugar, fruit, and acidity, and have two last wine components in my three-week, wine-basics tutorial. Sure, there’s still some summer left to enjoy, but for now let’s replace those swim caps with thinking caps and dive into alcohol and tannin! While most of what we know about alcohol we learned [...]
When you need a hit of acid
Time to bookmark your page in the Twilight saga. We’re back for the second installment of my wine basics tutorial that will keep your vinous vocabulary savvy
Wine basics in three easy lessons, starting with dry vs. sweet
Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser has a new $89 DVD that promises to teach you everything he knows about wine—or at least as much of it as he can disseminate in 20 minutes. At $4.50 a minute, that’s a pretty penny. Since I have yet to get my big break (“Swirling with the Stars”?), I’m [...]
Decanting vs. aerating wine
There’s nothing like a polarizing topic to get wine geeks worked into a lather, and few topics are as polarizing as decanting.
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Pollak Vineyards' Petit Verdot takes Monticello Cup
Six judges convened on Monday, June 14, at Barboursville Vineyards for this year’s Monticello Wine Cup competition. Their task was to blindly taste 60 wines from the Monticello AVA (the American Viticultural Area surrounding Charlottesville) in 3.5 hours. But with Italy playing Paraguay in the World Cup smack in the middle of the competition, Barboursville’s [...]
How to enjoy life's most delicious companions
In our minds, they’re as inevitable a duo as Adam and Eve. But are wine and cheese always meant to be?
Malbec and the best of both worlds
For once, France can’t take any credit for the success of one of its own grapes. Once upon a time, Malbec was from France and not given much at- tention, but the neglected grape found a happy home in Argentina where it gets to bask in both sunshine and limelight. The arrangement seems ideal: Country [...]
Kill Bill: Vol. 5034
As I write, wine lovers in our country are united on a single front that has nothing to do with what’s in their glasses, but rather, what might not be, if some beer and wine wholesalers get their way. A bill known as H.R. 5034 snuck onto the floor of Congress last month with bi-partisan [...]
Moscato d'Asti is springtime in a glass
Ah, spring. Birds are chirping, people are smiling, the world is alive again. And, after more than 60 inches of snow this winter, we seem to be taking the allergies, stink bugs, and re-mulching in stride. No sooner do the first daffodils peek through the barren earth than do I raise a glass to the [...]
Everyday wines for every night
Great memory: While living in Italy, I watched a housewife run a weekly errand.
Wine with a hint of moonshine
It’s good to have a goal. When I read that biodynamic agriculture expert Maria Thun had published a calendar for wine drinkers,
Keswick's take on the great wine smackdown of 1976
When I noticed on Keswick Hall’s calendar of events that a wine dinner honoring the Judgment of Paris was scheduled for March 18, I quickly reserved a spot
The tongue-twisting pleasures of Zweigelt
When we are young, popularity is everything. And, as all of you Gertrudes, Hectors, and Penelopes out there know, a name can do a lot to lower your standing. Think of Germanic wines as the Throckmortons of the wine world—alone in the corner with their skinny necks and cryptic labels, still struggling to overcome the [...]
Now, for a brief promotional message
While working as a publicist for restaurants, chefs, and sommeliers, I got to wondering what it would be like if we all had a publicist. Especially now that I am a mother to a toddler that has yet to say, “I love you, Mommy, and think that you are doing a tremendous job,” I dream [...]
Make winter bearable with this delightfully fortified wine
What’s in all those barrels, found in Andalucia, Spain? It’s sherry, baby. Al Gore might not have seen it coming, but the Farmer’s Almanac predicted this would be the coldest winter in a decade. Weather this frightful calls for something more than that Snuggie you got for Christmas. Thankfully, it still leaves your hands free [...]
One habit you shouldn't kick
New Year’s resolutions bug me: much too ambitious and made in haste. To ensure success this year, try these fun-to-keep wine-related resolutions. 1. Keep a wine journal. This summer, I was a guest at a dinner honoring a wine salesman and bon vivant who won his battle against cancer. We had several remarkable wines that [...]
Don't burst your bubbly in just one night
Since its auspicious beginnings with mid-17th century English coopers, sparkling wine has inspired poetry.
It's a sacrament for a reason
We can all vividly recall the moment we found out that Santa Claus doesn’t actually exist
Ho, ho, ho, and a bottle of red
Whether due to a true holiday spirit or to the expectations of social intercourse, your December calendar probably filled up fast with invites to cookie exchanges, dinner parties and tree-trimming gatherings. Between the expected and the impromptu invitations, along with anything planned at your own home, you may find yourself reaching to the very bottom [...]