Many years ago, when I was just starting to become enamored of wine, my wife came home from a trip through Italy – I had not yet been – with the name in her notebook of a lovely white wine she had tasted a couple of times while in Milan.
Michelle Locke has picked up some of the Palate Press spirits beat, and this year her pursuit of spirits for this publication has taken her to Mexico, Scotland, Ireland, and France. Her Irish travel piece, though, stands out since it has one of the best ledes we've ever run. “Business or pleasure?” asked
“My father didn’t really want to sell the business,” Vitalie Taittinger recalls. “I think he felt a little shame, a lot of pain, that it wasn’t the courageous thing to do to sell the family heritage. I was very sad for my father.” It was the summer of 2005, and
For many, Sangiovese and Tuscany are practically synonymous. But, while Chianti and Brunello immediately spring to mind, the less familiar Morellino di Scansano offers equally enjoyable wines by another name. Situated in the Maremma province, in the southernmost part of Tuscany, the Morellino territory is nearly equidistant between Rome and
Who doesn’t love a place where the vineyards are steep, green gardens that produce fragrant white wines made with pinot blanc, sauvignon blanc, gewürztraminer and kerner? The elegant red wines here are made from pinot noir, lagrein and merlot grapes. This is in the far north of Italy, bordering on
“Business or pleasure?” asked the garda at Dublin airport immigration control. “ I’m not sure,” I replied. “I’m here to learn about Irish whiskey.” “That can only be pleasure,” he said with a smile as he stamped my passport with a thump. He was right. My tour of Irish whiskey
What happens when a sommelier spills while decanting an $800 bottle of wine? Is there actually a correct way to serve wine? Ever wondered how much a restaurant wine director actually knows about wine: how does he or she determined which wine you, personally, will enjoy with your meal? The
“This is the new part of the cellar”, says Nikolaus Saahs with a wry smile as we walk around the extraordinary gothic basement of his family's estate - Nikolaihof. It's “only” 400 years old, compared to the rest which dates from the Roman era (c. 1,880 years ago). I can't