A number of countries claim to be the birthplace to winemaking—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, etc. However, perhaps one of the richest, oldest, and most relevant histories of modern winemaking comes from the Republic of Georgia. Georgian wine has experienced a great many changes to its political and geographical landscape over the years: facing the phylloxera epidemic … [ Read more]
Wine Time: Heroes Get Remembered, But Legends Never Die
February 24, 2020 by
There are some wines that are famous even to the driest of teetotalers. These wines are spoken about with reverence, passed between wealthy hands at auctions for high price tags, and only on rarified occasions opened and sipped as though they are the elixir of life. These wines—like Cheval Blanc, Pomerol, vintage Dom Perignon, and … [ Read more]
Get On Board with Off-Dry Wine
January 27, 2020 by
I have been working in the food and beverage industry for over a decade now, as a bartender, cook, server, and so on. I truly care about what my guests enjoy and in each encounter I have with a potential consumer about wine, I inquire what they like in a wine or what flavors they … [ Read more]
Wine Time: Grapes of Cognac & Armagnac (Or, the virtues of neutrality)
October 28, 2019 by
Stay neutral.” Two words designated to Switzerland, minimalist millennials decorating their apartments, and grapes used for distillation—specifically for Cognac and Armagnac. When we think of beverages made from grapes, we immediately rush to wine (especially when reading a wine column.) But, let us take a moment to examine the grapes of the much-loved Cognacs and … [ Read more]
Royalty In Rot: For wine grapes, a death deferred by a Noble fungus
September 30, 2019 by
Winemakers spend lots of energy during the growing season battling pests and fending off vine diseases that seek to destroy grapes. But there’s one they actually welcome—the so-called “Noble Rot,” or as it is formally known, Botrytis cinerea. Botrytis is a fungal disease that typically lays dormant in almost all vineyards at all times. It … [ Read more]
Wine Time: Blood, Sweat, and Tears – aka, The Grape Harvest
September 13, 2019 by
It’s easy to get cerebral and abstract about wine. But let’s remember one thing: it comes from grapes farmed in a vineyard—it is an agricultural product. And there is perhaps no better reminder of this than the actual grape harvest, which is taking place all over the Northern Hemisphere in these early-to-mid-autumn months. In the … [ Read more]
Earth, Wind and Fire: West Coast vineyards are now faced with the challenge of smoke-tainted grapes
August 1, 2019 by
It has been a horrifying couple of seasons of wildfires in both California and Oregon wine country. Vineyards have had to ensure their harvests deliver a product free of “smoke taint,” which occurs when wood burns and releases a compound called guaiacol that can drift on the fiery winds, onto grapes, and through their skins. … [ Read more]
Back From The Brink: Three near-extinct wine grapes that have received a mighty second wind
July 2, 2019 by
T he sheer number of wine grapes in the world is staggering. But while the varieties of Vitis vinifera number well into the thousands, the forces and trends driving the wine market have pushed many grapes to the edge of extinction. It takes a great deal of commitment and dedication to produce a wine that … [ Read more]
Wine Time: Volcanic Wines Aren’t Just Trendy, They’re Timeless
May 28, 2019 by
Acutting edge. A little spice. Some heat. A walk on the wild side, perhaps? It’s easy to get caught up in wine trends. They often present themselves with a splash, a tagline, maybe as a little taboo, and they’re gone before we have time to consider: “Do I really want to commit to this?” Still, … [ Read more]
