A Sommelier's Guide to Wine+Food
Several years ago there was a blind tasting pitting Colorado wines against California wines. A handful of Master Sommeliers tasted 3 whites and 3 reds from each state to see how Colorado wines stack up. Wouldn’t you know it? The Colorado wines took first place in the white and red category. At that time I [...]
Randall is the longtime visionary winemaker for Bonny Doon winery as well as author of Been Doon So Long. I recently had a chance to sit down with Randall at his winery and taste through some 2009′s in tank. Randall would be fun to talk to on just about any subject, but in this first [...]
This recipe originally posted by Grgich Hills Estate Winery . INGREDIENTS FOR RIBS: 4 bone beef short ribs Kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper 2 carrots, peeled 1 yellow onion 2 stalks of celery thyme parsley 2 bay leaves 1 TSP black peppercorns beef broth 1 cup red wine 1 stick cinnamon vegetable oil [...]
Sommeliers the world over have turned their backs on stocking their cellars with that same old swill from Bordeaux. Forget Burgundy, no one can afford it anyways. Collectors are stocking their cellars with the hottest collectible wine in 2012 — Zinfandel. Zinfandel, known for its aging potential is taking over America’s hearts and minds. This [...]
Jane Portalupi and her winemaker husband, Tim Borges met as kids in northern California over thirty years ago. As grown ups they married and started Portalupi Winery in Healdsburg, California. Tim and Jane set out to craft wines worthy of their Italian heritage yet stay true to their location in Sonoma. I love working with [...]
About an hour southwest of Barcelona is Spain’s Priorat wine region. With centuries of history and its proximity to a major city you might expect an experience much like driving to Napa from San Francisco. But upon arriving in Priorat, you’ll discover a unique place that history seems to have forgotten. Immediate impressions of the [...]
. Every year we’re faced with the all-important question of which wines to serve on Thanksgiving day. Not just during Thanksgiving dinner but throughout the day. As we get together to give thanks on this American holiday, it’s useful to point out how France helped shape our history. Not only did the French give us [...]
On September 1, 2011 wine lovers around the world will converge online to celebrate the Cabernet grape. No matter what social media site wine lovers are on they can share anything related to Cabernet and as long as it has the #CabernetDay hash tag it’ll be searchable. Last year’s Cabernet was one of the first [...]
Related Articles: Sitting Down with Winemaker Randall Grahm Cinnamon Braised Beef Short Ribs Wine Pairing Move over Bordeaux, here comes Zinfandel Celebrating this week’s Zinfandel event in SF aka #ZinFest w/ @PortalupiWine Discovering Priorat: The UNwine region Thanksgiving Wine Ideas from Languedoc HOW to participate in #CabernetDay Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer [...]
Pairing Local is all about finding localized wine+food pairings in each region of the world. In this episode I visit Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander in Yarra Valley, Australia and meet a man who knows something about how your palate works. Winemaker, cheese maker and trained chef, Steve Flamsteed took time out of harvest to create pairings [...]
. . During a recent trip to Australia I had a chance to visit one of the most iconic vineyards in the world. Hill of Grace Vineyard produces legendary Shiraz from 140-year old vines. The curators of the vineyard are Steve and Prue Henschke. I call them ‘curators’ because when you step in the vineyard, [...]