Corks and Caftans

Burgundy is complicated: the wine, the geography, the influence of vintage. Thankfully, there are some basic guidelines to follow. Burgundy is divided into a north, and a south; Pinot Noir is the heartbeat of the reds, Chardonnay of the whites. The most sought-after Pinot Noir is considered to be a product of  the north, or [...]

Zinfandel is an all-American grape. Its wines are brassy and intense, usually uncomplicated, and always good with barbecue and lingering summer days. The last decade, when bigger was always better, was made for Zinfandel—big fruit, big oak, obscene alcohol percentages, and just-in-time drinkability. But that model may have been fad, and now buyers are looking [...]

  So, I turned 29 this weekend. Yup, kind of a big deal, but only because Carey and a few of my close friends surprised me with a weekend of shenanigans. I was shuttled down the mountain at great haste by Carey to the Perfect Wife, a nice local bar and restaurant, for a few pops [...]

If there was ever a wine that I could really enjoy endorsing to readers, this would be it. I learned a long time ago, that despite the uncontrollable determinants of grape growing, winemaking is generally in a constant state of improvement. When I first started collecting wine, I was constantly buzzing about after good deals [...]

A goodbye to a good town. Carey fired-up the stove for the last time tonight and I picked the last bottle of wine out of the fridge. I poured a glass and sat down on the couch and asked Eli to join me for a talk. “E, it’s time we told you. If you haven’t noticed, [...]

A worthy wine and a pretty lady on a snowy Vermont night. Not so bad. I like photographing wine bottles—they stand still and don’t talk back—but it can be predictable so I turned my camera on the crazy Aquarian.

A sinister snowflake? A sparsely-spined sea urchin? A magnified mini Koosh?  Nope! The artwork for Alta Maria Vineyards features hand-hewn iron nails used by homesteaders in Santa Maria before the Industrial Revolution introduced mass-produced, machine-cut nails. Despite its lowly function, each nail is unique from the next according to the conditions in which it was made [...]

Gypsy Dancer first caught my eye when a glut of bottles, the A & G Estates Pinot Noir and the Cuvée Romy Pinot Noir, appeared on WineBid.com. They sat for months, getting chipped away at, before I plucked a bottle for myself. It wasn’t until it got home did I realize what that atypical quantity available for [...]

This intensely fruity and distinctive Port was produced from a specially selected section of our home vineyard on Taplin Road and bottled December 2007. Bottle no. 7446 of 8026. I have to admit, when Carey and I arrived in Napa on the 3rd day of our honeymoon, I really had no concept of the scene [...]

It’s restrained (at times), floral, and light of tannins. Intensely cherried, tobacco and chocolate-packed, with a base of ripe stewed tomatoes. You will notice very little oak, a hefty yogurt-covered raisin, sans the raisin, on the mid-palate, and pencil lead metallic all over the nose and palate. This Cabernet thrives on variants—it’s multidimensional and complex, [...]

Shea Wine Cellars, Ken Wright, St. Innocent, Penner-Ash, Alexana, Panther Creek, Berström, Auteur, Sin Qua Non, Loring Wine Co., Raptor Ridge, J.K. Carrier, Elk Cove, Patricia Green, Stevenson Barrie, Westrey, Rex Hill, Broadly and Beaux Frères. All these wineries have, or have had, something in common, and that is: Shea Vineyard, one of America’s great vineyards. I [...]

Go cheap. Go Washington. If you find yourself in a grocery store with a $20 bill in your pocket and happen to need a six pack of Bud Light Wheat and a bottle of wine but just don’t feel like swiping the plastic, I have a solution. Actually, a few solutions. Cheap wine is the [...]