First, let's remember wine actually appeals to all five senses. Visual - what can the color tell us? Smell – familiar scents come to mind. Taste – perhaps the most common reference.
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A blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Cabernet Franc and 5% each of Petit Verdot and Malbec led to layers of complexity with each variety adding its own character to a masterful Bordeaux-style blend.
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But is all that necessary when you're just looking for something to enjoy? Most wines today, more than ever, will pass the "taste test" when pretense is cast aside and you're just looking for something that pleases the palate and fits the moment.
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The wine industry in Napa and beyond, along with wine lovers across the globe, are facing a serious and confusing message between groups advocating abstinence vs. our ability to experience the joy of sharing a bottle together with friends and family.
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Each variety has its own personality. This truth has been appreciated and handed down for centuries in the growing and making of fine wine in the traditional manner.
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Barbara had a far-reaching legacy, having dedicated her life to helping others through her extensive efforts in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s fundraising endeavors to find a cure for CF, a cause for which she originally had no personal connection.
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This year before Warren’s passing, Napa’s Queen of the Valley Hospital and Medical Center received a gift from the Winiarski family of $6.1 million to establish a much needed state-of-the-art stroke and diagnostic center.
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Fine sparkling wine is not only for holiday and special occasions as is often assumed. Yes, it’s hard to imagine a New Year’s celebration or wedding without the sparking accent. But be sure to enjoy a glass or two anytime alongside your favorite dish to heighten the vinous experience.
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A chef is truly the "creator" of a dish by sourcing many individual ingredients, skillfully blending them together with great expertise to fashion a culinary delight that up to that moment may have only resided in his imagination.
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The implication of wine etiquette can be observed in many situations that all have simple, informal and common sense alternatives.
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Last week the wine community lost a beloved icon and I lost a dear friend of 44 years. Miljenko “Mike” Grgich passed away peacefully at his Calistoga (Napa Valley) home surrounded by family on December 13.
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Wine preservation systems that rely on pumping the air (unavoidably, along with the aromatics) out of a leftover bottle through a rubber stopper to avoid oxidation, often leaving the remaining wine flat and without character.
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So, how do we distinguish between what is commonly referred to as a "blend" and what is more specifically called a "field blend?"
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A bit of history here. Sauvignon Blanc (aka its “nickname” Sauvignon) originated in the Loire Valley in the early 16th Century, but through state-of-the-art genetic research only one-half of its parentage (Savagnin from France’s Jura region) is known.
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