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Tina Caputo
Aug 31, 2010
An article posted on the New York Cork Report website last week took a bold stand on the subject of wine competitions: The website's writers and editors will no longer accept invitations to judge them. After much deliberation, the NYCR crew came to the conclusion that competitions don't provide any real value to the consumer -- and it's calling on other would-be wine judges to join the boycott.
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Tina Caputo
Aug 3, 2010
Last month, I had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of traveling to Calabria -- in the 'toe' of Italy's boot -- with my dad and sister, to visit the town where my father was born. Our family moved to Michigan in 1956, when my dad was 16 years old, and this was his first trip back to Italy in 54 years. (Does anyone else find it funny that my family left a country shaped like a boot for a state shaped like a mitten?) I'd dreamed about this journey for much of my adult life -- seeing for myself the scene of my dad's childhood stories, meeting my Italian cousins, and gorging myself silly on the region's delicious food and wine.
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Tina Caputo
Jul 6, 2010
With all the focus on what's new and hot in the world of wine, we sometimes forget about the established wineries that paved the way for those up-and-comers. They were the ones that put down roots(tock) in California when the rest of the wine-loving world insisted that good wines could only come from France. While some of these pioneering wineries have stuck to their guns over the years, continuing to concentrate on the wines they built their names on, some of the most successful vintners are exploring new territory.
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Tina Caputo
Jun 8, 2010
I'm interested in vintners who carve out their own paths, and Amy Aiken of Meander and Conspire wines is a great example. This driven, down-to-earth Napa Valley winemaker doesn't own a winemaking facility, or even a vineyard. An old barn on the property where she lives serves as her tasting room. Not only does Aiken make her own wines, she does the marketing, too.
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Tina Caputo
May 11, 2010
Thanks to a landmark decision made by the Supreme Court in 2005, wine lovers across the United States have unprecedented access to wines made beyond their state borders. But there's also a downside to all this online and mail-order bounty. It usually presents itself just after you've filled your virtual shopping cart with wine, and you arrive at the screen that shows the cost of shipping. Ouch! Sometimes it seems like you're paying more for the box's transportation than you are for the wine inside it -- and in some cases, you are.
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Tina Caputo
Apr 13, 2010
With Cinco de Mayo just a couple weeks away, you're probably wondering which wines to pair with your Mexican fiesta feast. Okay, you're probably not doing that. Most likely, you're planning to reach for the nearest cold beer or margarita. When it comes to spicy foods at any time of year -- whether it's Szechuan in September or Jamaican in January -- most people tend to steer clear of wine. And who can blame them? A perfectly delicious wine can end up tasting 'hot' and alcoholic when sharing a table with fiery foods. But that's not necessarily the case. In fact, certain wines not only work with spicy foods, they enhance them.
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Tina Caputo
Mar 16, 2010
A lot of wine lovers fantasize about someday becoming winemakers, but I can tell you honestly that I'm not one of them. Although I do love to spend time walking amongst the vines, sampling wines, and trying to imagine how they might evolve down the road, there are far too many aspects of the job that would make me crazy.
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Tina Caputo
Feb 16, 2010
Now that Valentine's Day is over, I thought this would be a good time for a column on wine and romance. I know what you're thinking: 'Why now? I don't have to do anything romantic for another 11 months!' But that's where you're wrong. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that February 14 is the worst possible day for romance. The romance is expected, not spontaneous. Wouldn't it mean a lot more to do something nice for your sweetie on a random Tuesday night in, say, March? (Bonus: If you go to a restaurant, you'll get better service and you won't have to eat whatever's on the mandatory 'set menu'!)
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Tina Caputo
Jan 19, 2010
As the world takes an ever more environmentally conscious turn, many wineries are now trumpeting their use of 'sustainable' practices. This had led to a lot of confusion among consumers, and even trade members, about the definition of the term. Most people understand it to have a faintly green tinge, but what does 'sustainable' actually mean?
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Tina Caputo
Dec 22, 2009
This may come as a shock to you, so brace yourself: Much of the wine sold in supermarkets is not, in fact, handcrafted by artisan winemakers in small batches and transported to market on the wings of tiny angels. In fact, lots of it is mass-produced in giant winemaking facilities that generate millions of bottles each year.
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Tina Caputo
Nov 24, 2009
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite major holidays for one simple reason: It's the only one that's purely food-focused. Yes, there are some fantastic culinary treats associated with Christmas and Easter, but there's also the somewhat distracting matter of Jesus' birth/horrific death/resurrection to contend with. That sort of thing can make a person feel guilty for dwelling on selfish, earthly delights like gingerbread, baked ham and chocolate eggs.
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Tina Caputo
Oct 27, 2009
When people think of Walla Walla, Washington, the first locally produced product that comes to mind isn't always wine. Often, it's onions. Or, if you're Wile E. Coyote, and a frequent customer of ACME, it could be anvils. That's a shame, since some truly delicious wines are produced in the region.
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Tina Caputo
Sep 29, 2009
I recently participated in an interesting blind tasting at Three Sticks Winery, in Sonoma. The winery was founded in 2002 by Bill Price, who also owns Sonoma's Durell Vineyards -- famous for producing fruit that goes into high-scoring wines made by more than 20 wineries. This same pedigreed vineyard is the basis of the Three Sticks wines.
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Tina Caputo
Sep 1, 2009
As much as I'd like to share (and by 'share' I mean finish) a bottle of wine with my husband every night, there are times when I need to restrict my alcohol intake.
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Tina Caputo
Aug 4, 2009
I know that most people don't think of winery-hopping as a cheap day out, but that depends on your goal. No, you won't be going home with a trunk full of wine, but you can still have a great time sampling wine and enjoying the gorgeous scenery.
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Tina Caputo
Jul 7, 2009
The wine industry is full of ethical ambiguities. The truth is, lots -- if not the majority -- of professional wine critics and writers accept free wine samples, attend 'comped' dinners hosted by wineries and importers, and visit far-flung wine regions on someone else's dime. Does that mean that these writers are allowing themselves to be swayed by such freebies?
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Tina Caputo
Jun 9, 2009
Remember when new oak barrels were a badge of honor for vintners? They'd even brag about them on their wine labels: 'We use 100% new French oak barrels every year!' The message was not only that these wineries spared no expense in the winemaking process (new barrels every year!), but that their Chardonnay was absolutely packed with toasty vanilla-oak character. To thousands of wine lovers, this was a major selling point. In fact, I distinctly remember telling a friend in the early `90s that I really liked the 'oaky-buttery' style of Chardonnay. And I wasn't alone.
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Tina Caputo
May 12, 2009
Gary Pisoni owns the Pisoni Vineyard in Monterey County's Santa Lucia Highlands AVA, which has become known as one of California's best sites for growing Pinot Noir. Pisoni's parents bought the 280-acre property in the late 1970s as a cattle and horse ranch, and in 1982, at Gary's urging, they planted Pinot Noir vines on the property. Not just any vines would do. A self-proclaimed Burgundy fanatic, Pisoni brought his vineyard cuttings back from France.
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Tina Caputo
Apr 14, 2009
On one glorious night each year, the Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar hosts its Salt Dinner--a six-course menu devoted to the many incarnations of salt, and the wines that love them. For the restaurant's third-annual Salt Dinner, chef Janine Falvo created an adventurous menu featuring flavored salt accents--she even makes her own infused salts--and salt-cured dishes.
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Tina Caputo
Mar 17, 2009
In a recent column, Slate.com wine writer Mike Steinberger wonders why Americans seem to have an obsession with the health benefits of wine. The latest wine and health discoveries are regularly trumpeted in the mainstream news, and CBS News show "60 Minutes" recently ran a follow-up report to its famous 1991 "French Paradox" segment. (The 'paradox' was that the French eat all kinds of delicious fatty cheeses and drink gallons of red wine, yet they're healthier than the fatties in the USA.)
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Tina Caputo
Feb 17, 2009
Over the last five years, the quality of wines being put into bag-in-box packaging--especially in the 3-liter size--has increased dramatically. In fact, 3L boxes represent America's fastest-growing wine category, in terms of packaging (sales increased by 31% in 2008, compared to a 4.4% increase in overall table wine sales). And that wouldn't be the case if all the wine was undrinkable swill.
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Tina Caputo
Jan 20, 2009
Though it would seem that some of the more opulent red table wines -- which often taste sweet and contain nearly as much alcohol as some dessert wines -- would pair deliciously with chocolate, the combo is usually a big fat letdown. The wines just aren't sweet enough to get the job done. Instead of enhancing the chocolate-eating experience, table wines usually leave me -- like any bad relationship -- with a bad taste in my mouth.
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Tina Caputo
Dec 23, 2008
In search of a new twist on New Year's Eve bubbly for this year's pre-holiday column, I stumbled across some fascinating sparkling ciders in a local wine shop. These ciders were not the mass-produced type that you find in 12-ounce beer bottles, or on tap at Ye Olde English-Style Pub; these were packaged in stylish 750ml Champagne bottles that sold for up to $19 per bottle. Clearly, these ciders were a different animal.
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Tina Caputo
Nov 25, 2008
From the wine industry's point of view, Robert Parker, Jr. is a love-him-or-hate-him kind of critic. On one hand, his scores have the power to propel an unknown wine to superstardom; on the other, they can cause a winery's sales to plummet overnight. When your wines are getting 90+ scores, Parker is your savior, but when they're scoring in the 80s, he's your nemesis.
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Tina Caputo
Oct 28, 2008
I look forward to autumn not for the brightly colored leaves or the crisp weather, but for the food. Pumpkin bread, butternut squash risotto, golden delicious apples from our backyard tree--these seasonal treats are what make the end of summer a time of excitement instead of dread. Fall also brings a change in my wine cravings. As temperatures drop, I gravitate toward richer, more aromatic wines. To me, ice wine is the luscious liquid equivalent of my favorite fall treats: sweet, spicy and a little bit tart.
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Tina Caputo
Sep 30, 2008
According to a Reuters report, Amazon will start selling wine on its website in early October. The company will initially sell wine in 26 states, then move into other states in the coming year. Amazon's goal is to offer a massive selection of wines from all U.S. wine regions -- no small goal given the maze of state laws that govern direct-to-consumer wine shipping. But if anyone has the power to pull it off, Amazon does.
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Tina Caputo
Sep 2, 2008
While beer tastes pretty good with sushi, it doesn't really do anything to elevate the experience. What does, however, is wine. It may not be the most 'Japanese' drink, but lots of upscale sushi bars are starting to take their wine lists more seriously. (And I'm not talking about sticky-sweet plum wine here.)
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Tina Caputo
Aug 5, 2008
Even the world's most famous winemakers are quick to spout that true-but-overused adage: Great wine is made in the vineyard. So what about the growers who lovingly tended the vineyards that produced all that fabulous fruit? Is there such a thing, you may wonder, as a star grape grower? As a matter of fact, there is.
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Tina Caputo
Jul 8, 2008
An article posted earlier this week on Forbes.com offered a sobering reality check for high-tech moguls dreaming of trading in their semi-conductors for Semillon. Author Eric Arnold wrote: 'It's the dream of many entrepreneurs: Get rich, buy a vineyard, kick back on the porch and relax with a glass of your own wine. Keep dreaming. Wine is a tough, competitive and expensive business….' While all of that is certainly true for those looking to enter the wine biz the old fashioned way--buy or build a winery, plant vineyards, wait a few years for the vines to produce a decent crop--there's a simpler, cheaper way to go about it. It's called a 'virtual winery.'
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Tina Caputo
Jun 10, 2008
Here in Northern California, we suffered through unseasonably hot--as in triple-digit--temperatures for nearly a week in May. Since it's rarely that warm in this part of the world, many houses are not equipped with air conditioning, and few have basements. This normally isn't a problem for wine storage, but on those rare 100-plus-degree days, it can spell doom for innocent wines.
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Tina Caputo
May 13, 2008
In the United States, most wines are labeled according to the grape variety from which they're made. Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc are just a few examples. There are a few exceptions, however, and perhaps the most confusing one is Fumé Blanc. Though it sounds suspiciously like the name of a grape, there is no such variety--it's just another name for Sauvignon Blanc.
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Tina Caputo
Apr 15, 2008
While most wine drinkers have heard of California's Wente Vineyards, comparatively few are familiar with the winery's home base of Livermore. About 40 miles east of San Francisco, the Livermore Valley is one of California's oldest wine regions. The first commercial vines were planted there in 1846 by Robert Livermore, and pioneer winemakers C.H. Wente, James Concannon and Charles Wetmore founded wineries in the Livermore Valley in the early 1880s.
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Tina Caputo
Mar 18, 2008
When wine lovers think of Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc blends, their thoughts usually turn to Bordeaux. After all, that's where the classic blend of white varieties originated. But just as other regions have adopted the famous combination of red Bordeaux varieties--mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc--they've created their own versions of 'white Bordeaux.'
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Tina Caputo
Feb 19, 2008
When it comes to wine festivals, it seems that red wines get all the glory. There are events devoted to Zinfandel (ZAP), Pinot Noir (Pinot Days) and Merlot (Merlot in May), but where's the love for white varieties? Luckily, the vintners in Anderson Valley, in California's Mendocino County, aren't hung up on wine color-gender issues. For the last three years, they've hosted an annual event devoted to the white grape varieties of Alsace: mainly Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. Not only does the festival feature all white wines, but some sweet ones, too.
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Tina Caputo
Jan 22, 2008
Due to the current fad for ultra-ripe, high-octane California reds, it's become a bit of a challenge to find wines with food-friendly acidity and balance. But the Hawkes wines definitely fit that description--particularly the Cabernet Sauvignon. Although the cooler climate of northern Sonoma County's Alexander Valley, where the winery's grapes are grown, is partly responsible for keeping alcohol and ripeness levels in check, the style is also the result of a conscious effort by winemaker Jacob Hawkes.
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Tina Caputo
Dec 25, 2007
It was this try-anything-once mentality that led me to the subject of this column: unconventional sparkling wines for New Year's Eve. While you couldn't go wrong with, say, a lovely sparkling wine like Roederer Estate's L'Ermitage, there's a whole other world of bubbles out there to explore. Why not pop the cork on a dry sparkling Gewürztraminer or effervescent mead when the clock strikes midnight? And who says sparkling wines have to be white?
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Wine Competitions: Consumer Helpers or Instruments of Evil?
