The streets of old Europe can be hauntingly quiet. In small villages, one can walk along cobbled corridors in the middle of a weekday afternoon and hear nothing but the breeze. The streets are lined with stone buildings, some of them homes, some of them businesses. Trousers hang to dry
This past weekend in Sonoma County, California, 17 vintners gathered for a wine tasting they dubbed “The 7 Percent Solution.” As the organizers explained, “roughly 93 percent of Northern California vineyard acreage is planted to eight major grape varietals. The remaining 7 percent is home to numerous lesser-known varietals, [which]
At first, the aromas of this deep purple wine are of just-picked grapes and new wine, but it soon evolves in the glass to a dark fruitiness. And on the palate, the wine is light at first, but becomes bigger and then gives up dark fruit with accents of wild,
In a tasting of Finger Lakes Rieslings, this wine stood out because of its finesse and complexity. It has a classic Riesling aroma of minerals shading into honeyed pear. The flavor is somewhat crisp, layered and mineral, with citrus too. More tropical fruit and grapefruit appear as it warms in
At this point, its reasonably common knowledge that terroir isn’t all about soil. Studies since the 1970’s have told us that wine from grapes grown on different soil types in different locations don’t necessary taste different. Nouveau chic wine critics – Steve Heimoff, Eric Asimov, W. Blake Gray, among others
This is an impressive Champagne, especially as it’s the entry-level non-vintage for this Champagne House. Medium-light straw-gold in color. A nice, strong yeast and toasted aroma, almost like Marmite but in a good way (if you can imagine that). On the palate, more toast, fruit and lemon integrate into a
In the old days, Alice Feiring knew exactly what she needed to do to launch her natural wine newsletter – find a publisher willing to give her an advance. But the old days are gone, and publishers are worrying about other things, like staying in business. So Feiring, perhaps the
Your guests have arrived, and your dinner party is bubbling along. Everyone’s twirling flutes of Champagne and nibbling canapés as they chitchat and catch up. You sit for apps, and more wine is poured. The chatter now mingles with jolly tintinnabulations of cutlery and stemware. Soon that course is through,