Charles Neal, a San Francisco-based writer and wine importer, spent almost a decade researching and writing Armagnac: The Definitive Guide to France's Premier Brandy. He's now done it again with Calvados: The Spirit of Normandy, an all-encompassing volume that is the result of another 10-year period of travel, research and
In case you were wondering whether to get the manga hit The Drops of God with your holiday gift certificates, the answer is yes. For some time, I’ve been getting emails from French wine producers who were thrilled their wines were mentioned in this series, which debuted as a Japanese
As Napoleon is reputed to have said, “Champagne: in roaring economies you deserve it, in recession you need it.” OK, the energetic emperor did not actually say that. (The proper quote, according to legend anyway, is, “Champagne: in victory you deserve it, in defeat you need it.”) But it is
The debate in wine geek circles surrounding the concept of “natural wine” seems to be unending. From the uselessness of the term “natural” to hyperbolic accusations on both sides (chemical agriculture and slaves of Monsanto vs. hippies and producers of-read more-
Alice Feiring has become a bit of a controversial figure in the wine world, through her advocation of natural wine in its strictest (yet perfectly sensible) definition: nothing added, nothing taken away. In the last couple of years, the anger-read more-
Author Todd Kliman’s history of the American grape, Norton’s Virginia Seedling, starts off in an almost sultry manner as he teases the reader by veiling his intent. What begins to look like an unhealthy promotion of a single vineyard, Chrysalis,-read more-
The Wine Trials 2011 is an interesting book. It has two basic premises, which it purports to support with scientific research. The first is that people, both wine experts and regular wine consumers, are so subject to the placebo effect-read more-
Jurgen Lijcops and Astrid Fobelets have traveled the globe in search of the very best wine cellars. Fobelets and her co-author Lijcorps—a well-noted chef and sommelier—set out to explore their common passion, and now have shared it with the rest-read more-