I find that there is nothing better than giving a bottle of wine as a gift during the holidays! It’s important to remember, as with all gift giving, that everyone who loves wine appreciates a thoughtful choice. Here’s a few tips on how to pick out the perfect wine as a gift: Consider the Receipient [...]

There’s a lot of 3-letter abbreviations in the wine world. In France, they have AOC. In Italy, it’s called DOC. In American, we have AVA. What does AVA stand for and what does it mean? AVA= American Viticultural Area An AVA is defined as “a delimited grape growing region, distinguished by geographical features, the boundaries [...]

Here are some quick facts about the often unnoticed white wines of Spain: -Airén is the most widely planted grape and also the #1 most planted grape in terms of number of hectares in the world! -The native Spanish white varieties are: Albariño, Verdejo, Palomino, Godello, Loureira, and Airén. -The northwest region of Galicia that [...]

Most of us know by now that red wine is good for you. Like we needed an excuse to drink more wine! But it doesn’t hurt that drinking in moderation has certain proven health benefits. This revelation came back in 1991, when the news magazine show 60 Minutes aired a segment called “The French Paradox.” Since [...]

Let’s talk about a little technique that I have dubbed, “The Dr. Seuss Method” Hence, the image below. Har har, I’m so clever. Moving on…Did you know that Germans actually add sterilized grape juice to their finished wine? Sacre bleu!! How can it be possible? I balked at this fact when I first heard about [...]

What exactly is a sommelier? The word “sommelier” is derived from the Late Latin term sagma, meaning “pack saddle.” In Old French, the word somier meant “pack animal.” By the 14th century, the term had evolved into “soumelier” which identified a court official who was responsible for supply transportation. No doubt wine was included in [...]

It’s the celebratory sparkling, bubbling drink that brings great taste and enjoyment to any occasion…Champagne! The carbonisation of champagne has always been one of its big selling points as it causes the pop of the cork and quickly brings on the party-spirt since also gets the alcohol into the bloodstream more quickly! We all know [...]

Ripasso, which literally means “repassed,” is an Italian style of winemaking. Typically, wines from the Valpolicella region in Italy are very simple and fruity, much like Beaujolais. But the ripasso process gives unremarkable wines more richness and body. With this technique, leftover grape skins and seeds are added to the batch of Valpolicella wines for [...]

Surely every wine lover has seen the fanatically humorous and cleverly scripted 2004 film, Sideways. The anti-hero, Miles, is the epitome of a wine snob with an opinionated palette. Most of you probably remember how Merlot sales plummeted in the US that year as a result of the line where Miles shouts, “If anyone orders [...]

As if the myriad of wine grape varietals isn’t already overwhelming enough, many varietals have other names in different countries. There are thousands of varieties out there but here is a starter list of some common grapes and their international aliases. Cinsault (France) ——————————> Ottavianello (Italy) & Hermitage (South Africa) Malbec (worldwide) —————————> Auxerrois/Côt (Cahors, [...]