Wine Talk from Creators Syndicate

Frequent Visitor Offers Guide to Napa Valley for 07/07/2009

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I have it on good authority that everyone is vacationing in the Napa Valley this summer. Or so it would seem as I sift through my e-mail.

The most frequently asked question at this time of year revolves around visits to the California wine country, with the Napa Valley the chosen destination by a comfortable margin.

It makes sense. For one thing, the wineries are well established ...

Updated: Tue Jul 07, 2009

A Guide to the Sonoma Valley for 07/14/2009

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Wine country travel is hardly the exclusive domain of the Napa Valley. A scant 45 minutes from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, the southernmost wine districts of Sonoma County come into view. It could be argued, with some conviction, that the wines of Sonoma are as fine as any in the world, including the Napa Valley.

There are Iron Horse and J vineyards if your wine preferences inclu ...

Updated: Tue Jul 14, 2009

No Debating the Quality of Spanish Food and Wine for 07/21/2009

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain — I have only checked into the Maria Cristina a few minutes ago and am already bellied up to the tapas bar at Casa Urola, in the Old Town. The streets are teeming with visitors from across the globe, drawn by the sun, the sea and the cuisine of this stunningly beautiful seaside enclave in the heart of the Spanish Basque country.

This is the center of the culina ...

Updated: Tue Jul 21, 2009

Modern Viniculture Taking Root in Historic South of France for 07/28/2009

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

ALZONNE, France — The final leg of my summer's journey through the wine world takes me to a renovated farming estate in the south of France, about 10 miles from the medieval city of Carcassonne.

This is the often-overlooked wine region of Languedoc-Roussillon, where quality has been on the rise over the past 15 years while prices continue to lag behind the more coveted wines of Bor ...

Updated: Tue Jul 28, 2009

The Best Outdoor Cooks Always Have Wine for 08/04/2009

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Being the resident grillmeister at my house, I find I am increasingly a prisoner of the culinary calendar. July 4 means a smoky afternoon over a hot grill. Labor Day is more of the same. Brats, burgers, chicken or fish — you name it, I've grilled it. My pulse races every time I pass the display of grilling tools at Home Depot. As Labor Day approaches, I'm primed and ready to fire.

...

Updated: Tue Aug 04, 2009

Raising the Profile of Underappreciated Grape Varieties for 08/11/2009

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Over the many years I've come to admire a number of grape varieties that I will charitably describe as out of the mainstream. I'm not talking about obscure grapes that sometimes find their way into an eclectic blend. Even I wouldn't try to fob a Lladonner or Bourboulenc on you.

The object of my affection is fabulous wine made primarily from grapes that exist despite lack of strong consum ...

Updated: Tue Aug 11, 2009

The Best Wines to Enjoy with Football for 08/18/2009

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I may not be your average American football fan. I don't spend my autumn weekends camped in front of the TV chugging a beer as I cheer on my favorite teams. Nope, it's usually a glass of vino.

So, friends often ask me what wines go with football. They usually do so with a wink and a smirk, but for me the issue is no joking matter. I'm dead serious about football and wine and have made it ...

Updated: Tue Aug 18, 2009

Italy Grows Respect for White Wines of the North for 08/25/2009

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I was recently intrigued by an Eric Asimov column in the New York Times that scoped out Vermentino, a white wine produced widely in Italy's Sardinia and Tuscany districts. Asimov made the point that Italy is awash in white wine, yet conventional wisdom tends to only recognizes the red wines of Italy.

This reminded me of a long-ago debate with another colleague about the importance of whi ...

Updated: Tue Aug 25, 2009

Enjoy White Wines that Won't Hurt Your Budget for 09/01/2009

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This week's tasting notes are chock full of recommendations for modestly priced white wines that will enable you to ride out this Indian summer in style. Seems like further evidence that price is no precursor to pleasure when it comes to wine. Until we get to the Far Niente Chardonnay, which is a budget buster at $56 per bottle.

So, eyebrows raised, you may ask what its doing in the mix. ...

Updated: Tue Sep 01, 2009

Ramblings from the Wine Trail for 09/08/2009

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A wine journalist's work is never done. There are tastings and travel, travel and tastings, tastings and more tastings, until you come to think there must be an ocean of wine out there and we're never gonna run out of the stuff. There is and we won't.

So it's a journey, and along the way, quite a bit of interesting clutter accumulates in the notebook, anecdotal evidence of profound trend ...

Updated: Tue Sep 08, 2009

Making the Case for Wine Competitions for 09/15/2009

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

I am a denizen of the wine competition world. I run five major international wine competitions and firmly believe the results provide a useful tool for consumers dazed and confused by the ocean of wine options at virtually every price point.

So, I was keenly interested in a recent report in the Los Angeles Times that raised the issue of "inconsistent" results. The article was b ...

Updated: Tue Sep 15, 2009

Bonny Doon's Grahm Finds Great Winemaking Elusive for 09/22/2009

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Lunch with winemaker Randall Grahm the other day was a trip, as I suspected it might be. Among other things, I learned that evil spirits haunt the Languedoc region of southern France, near Carcassonne, where I vacationed over the summer. Seems Randall spent a night in Carcassonne some years ago and believes his body was invaded.

That would explain a few things, though with the "Doon ...

Updated: Tue Sep 22, 2009

Something for Everyone at First Sommelier Challenge for 09/29/2009

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

There was a little something for everyone in the inaugural Sommelier Challenge. The international wine competition, conducted Sept. 26 to 27 in San Diego, brought together 11 sommeliers from top restaurants, such as Sona in Los Angeles (Mark Mendoza) and The French Laundry of the Napa Valley (Anani Lawson) to evaluate more than 500 wines.

The results demonstrated once again that wine app ...

Updated: Tue Sep 29, 2009

Young Wines Require Time, Patience for 10/06/2009

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The readers always write, and sometimes they deserve an answer in print — for the answer addresses a larger point of interest to all who seek to unravel the mystery of wine.

Josh Cohn responded to a recent column that attempted to explain what appear to be, to the naked eye, inconsistent results from the nation's wine competitions. Say, for example, the same wine that won a gold me ...

Updated: Tue Oct 06, 2009

Argentine Malbec: the Right Wine for Hard Times for 10/13/2009

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It is no secret the declining dollar has complicated the business of importing wine from Europe, where the euro remains strong. The current exchange rate makes it increasingly difficult to source value wines from France, Italy and Spain, the big three wine-producing countries.

As consumers continue to retreat from big-ticket ...

Updated: Tue Oct 13, 2009

Savvy Wine Buyers 'Shop' Before They Buy for 10/20/2009

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Shop, shop, shop until you drop. That's my wine-buying advice for the upcoming stretch of weeks that will take you into the holidays.

There is a method to this madness, and it's not designed to blow up your credit cards or break your budget. Exactly the opposite, actually.

Consider this: Wine distributors have noticed that consumers are trading down on their wine purchases this ye ...

Updated: Tue Oct 20, 2009

Nontraditional Wines for a Traditional Thanksgiving for 10/27/2009

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Someday soon I will opine on the upcoming Thanksgiving feast and the accompanying wines that I remember fondly from holidays past. I will no doubt load you down with bottles of Beaujolais, pinot noir, chardonnay and possibly a pinot gris or pinot blanc or two. But not today.

Today I have eclectic, or perhaps I should say nontraditional, Thanksgiving wines on my mind, inspired perhaps by ...

Updated: Tue Oct 27, 2009

When it Comes to Wineries, Big is Not Necessarily Bad for 11/03/2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

I know some of you view large wine companies in something less than a favorable light. It's much more fun to delve into the "romance" of wine when there is a charming back story, such as that rich industrialist who decided one day to ditch the corporate life, move to the Napa Valley and plant a few grapevines.

Can you say "cha-ching"? Those stories abound and you, too ...

Updated: Tue Nov 03, 2009

High-End Wines for Special Occasions for 11/10/2009

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

With all of the focus these days on value wines, it seems a good time to take the road less traveled with a brief walk on the wild side.

This came to me as I methodically worked my way through a stack of wine samples that seemed several cuts above the norm. No surprise there, really, because it turned out the stack was loaded with wines from three of California's most stellar performers: ...

Updated: Tue Nov 10, 2009

Thanksgiving Flavors Deserve an Array of Wines for 11/17/2009

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800