A Compromise to End the War Over the 100-Point Scale

Evan Dawson
Features
6 min read
Compromise is in the air these days. The rockets have quieted in the Middle East. Republicans are talking about taxes while Democrats entertain cuts in entitlement spending. President Obama is having lunch with Mitt Romney. Even Mark Sanchez, in an act of selfless immolation, decided to distract New Yorkers from

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Wine Grapes

Remy Charest
Features
4 min read
Wine Grapes, the huge new encyclopedic work by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding, and José Vouillamoz covering 1,368 varieties of grapes used to make wine around the world, is at once full of surprises and unsurprising. It is full of surprises because it is full of information about the secret life

Yeast Martyrdom: Toasty Flavors in Your Sparkling

Erika Szymanski
Feature Stories
5 min read
Traditional wassails were—and still are, I suppose—seasonal hot drinks made with wine or beer, sugar, spices, eggs, and bits of toast floating on top. Today, we’re far more likely to find toasty, bready flavors in a more fashionable (and still seasonally appropriate) beverage: methode champenoise sparkling wine. How those characteristic

Best Wines for Comfort Food

Meg Houston Maker
Features
5 min read
Comfort food. It's polenta and pasta, roast beef and beef stew, pot pie and Shepherd’s pie and macaroni and cheese. It’s hamburgers, French fries, and toasted cheese sandwiches. It’s Chinese takeout and sushi and Chili con Carne; Osso Buco, Braised Short Ribs, and Fish and Chips. And, of course, bacon.

Non-Traditional Wines for a Traditional Feast

Christie Kiley
Features
4 min read
It is that time of year, once again. You have probably muttered to yourself a few times and shared it out loud with your friends, “This year went by so fast!” This week marks the mad dash to Christmas. But before you start making shopping plans for black Friday, take

Wine and Turkey: Not a Thanksgiving Story

W. Blake Gray
Features
6 min read
Turkish wines are historic, interesting and in many cases pretty good. And the Islamic ruling party would be happy for you to take more of them away from the country. Turkey is a fascinating place for wine researchers because it appears to be the birthplace of wine. The center of

Merlot and Cabernet of Italy

Elisabetta Tosi
Feature Stories
5 min read
The history of enology in Italy is rich in fairy-tale-like stories like this one. Once upon a time, there was a young Italian nobleman who loved two things: racehorses and French wines. His name was Marquis Mario Incisa della Rocchetta. In 1929 he was finishing his degree in agriculture at