I recently attended the West Coast tasting of the 2009 Domaine De La Romanée Conti wines. This was the 33rd vintage to be represented by the importer Wilson Daniels. The tasting was held on January 23, 2012 at Quince Restaurant in San Francisco. A few days prior a similar tasting was held in New York. […]
Click here to read entire article »WINE FRAUD – CAVEAT EMPTOR! PART II UPDATE FEBRUARY 6, 2012 The fast breaking story on wine fraud has a completely new revelation on the possibility of fraud in a large number of Domaine Romanee Conti wines being offered for sale at auction. The discrepancies on the bottles has now been specifically identified. The […]
Click here to read entire article »Chef Roberto Cortez has created a new concept in dining. He calls it CR8. Basically, it involves creating a new environment in the dining realm while utilizing and exploring all sensory actions that leads to a new experience. With CR8, every element of the room, tablescape, auditory environment along with food and wine strategically structured with ever changing concepts brings new experiences to the diner.
Click here to read entire article »I have said many times that I think the most versatile of all wines with food is Champagne. And, since I eat my own cooking, I drink a lot of Champagne. Almost without exception, every evening meal for us begins with Champagne. In fact, my wife Laurie, expects there to be cold Champagne ready before dinner well in advance. If I fall down on this job, I shudder to think of the outcome.
Click here to read entire article »Isn’t it funny how things can get so alienated at a point in time? I guess now a lot of folks are focused on politics and the polarization that is being experienced as we head into elections next year. But, how about the current world of food and wine? Here we have yet another polarization. Food is moving rapidly toward lighter, fresher, natural ingredients. Wine, on the other hand, seems still stuck in the industrialized wines that I talked about in my recent article What is Wine?
Click here to read entire article »Kermit Lynch has been importing and selling fine wines since the 1970s. I have been a customer since the very early days. Over the years, he has represented some of the finest domaines in France. These include names like J.F. Coche-Dury and Francois Raveneau in Burgundy, Vieux Telegraphe in the Rhone valley, and Domaine Tempier […]
Click here to read entire article »While shopping at Trader Joe’s as I often do, something caught my eye. It was a 2010 VINTJS Pinot Gris Willamette Valley, Oregon for $5.99. Why not? I love Pinot Gris and this wine, produced and bottled by Joe, Dundee Oregon, had Trader Joe’s stamped all over it. So I plucks down my bucks and […]
Click here to read entire article »I have always been curious. In all of my endeavors, I have referred to this trait as “turning over rocks.” You have to turn over rocks to see what is underneath. That takes some effort. Many people do not care. But for those that do, there is no assurance of what you will find. Maybe it will be a gold nugget or maybe it will be a rattle snake! Or, even more likely, it will be something in between. So it is with wine.
Click here to read entire article »In real estate, it’s location, location, location. In wine it’s storage, storage, storage. You see in real estate, for no matter how bad the building, location wins over development because a better building can always be built. Whereas, a poor location will not support a great building, and may not support a building at all. In wine it’s storage where even mediocre wine will be better if stored properly. And, even great wine will be ruined by poor storage.
Click here to read entire article »We’ve been talking about the very favorable growing conditions in almost all parts of the world in 2009. So continuing with that theme here is a representative sampling of generally inexpensive 2009 wines that are distinctive and generally not well known. Hence, the “Under the Radar” theme. Be adventuresome. Try a few. I think you will be really glad you did and I expect you will find many new favorites.
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