Four judges taste a wine. One thinks it's gold-medal worthy. Two say silver. One says bronze. What medal does this wine get? If you guessed "gold," you have probably sat on a wine jury in the United States. This nearly happened on my jury earlier this month -- and I
The Greeks may have been the architects of democracy, but they seem to have taken more time to build reputable wine. The wine history on the island of Crete stretches 3,500 years, but it has only been since 2003 that Crete has achieved a modicum of success. To comprehend this
The nose is sweet, Bing cherries cooked in brown sugar. ON the palate, the flavors are far more tart than sweet, sour cherry and redcurrant lead on the attack. Plum and hints of black fruit show on the mid-palate, along with touches of olive, rosemary, and tarragon. Tannins are big,
It's a brilliant California day and it’s about 1000 degrees in the tasting tent at the annual Napa Valley barrel auction. I'm wilting in a plain summer frock and sandals. But my escort, vintner Jean-Charles Boisset, isn't even breaking a sweat despite being fully rigged out in dark slacks and
Though it may be hard to imagine, the original, refreshingly light white wine spritzer was made in Austria, a mix of Gruner Veltilner wine and sparkling mineral water. It was enjoyed at summertime family dinners on outdoor patios and home and at taverns. In this particular “Grooner” wine, faint meadow
Last week, about 250 wine bloggers gathered in Penticton, a small city in British Columbia, Canada, for the sixth annual North American Wine Bloggers' Conference. That so many wine enthusiasts would travel to a city five hours east of Vancouver isn't surprising. Held in a different winemaking region each year,
Readers of today story by Roederer Award winning writer Erika Szymanski, Glass Shape, Aroma, and the Game of Sensory Science, might be particularly interested in a new offer from Riedel, the well known Austrian glass maker. The new glass is a joint venture with Graffigna, a maker of fine Argentinian
I’ve never actually attended one of the infamous Riedel seminars at which a sleek Riedel representative demonstrates the magic transformative power of their varietal-specific glassware – living in a small town has its limitations – but I can’t say that I see much point. I would go for the sake