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Marguerite Thomas
May 28, 2013
Most travellers who make their way to Italy visit Venice, ramble through Rome and perhaps ski or hike the hills around Cortina. The Prosecco region, by contrast, remains one of Italy's last well-kept secrets, relatively unknown even to enophiles. It's hard for me to understand why this Northern Italian gem isn't on every wine lover's list of must-see wine regions.
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Marguerite Thomas
Apr 9, 2013
As usual, H.L. Mencken said it best: "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple--and wrong." My most recent experience with being proven wrong had to do with Sauvignon Blanc. Normally the words 'Sauvignon Blanc' conjure up a taste-image of crisp, dry white wines, wines with the fresh aromas of spring greenery and (in the best examples) a complex, mineral-laden finish. I do also enjoy certain fruitier-styled Sauvignons, the ones blessed by notes of lime peel, grapefruit, melon and perhaps even tropical fruit notes. The common denominator that I, and like-minded Sauvignon Blanc lovers, look for in these different styles of wine is the racy vigor that's emblematic of youth.
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Marguerite Thomas
Jan 15, 2013
At various wine events I've watched countless numbers of people slosh some water in their glass, dump it out, then hold the glass up for a new wine to be poured in it. I've even seen professional tasters perform this ritual, and each time I have to force myself not to scream STOP! I've usually held by tongue since I couldn't prove that this practice is more apt to harm than enhance the fresh pour, but I'm speaking out against the rinsing ritual now that I've read what Jason Haas, partner and general manager of Tablas Creek Vineyard, has to say on the subject.
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Marguerite Thomas
Nov 27, 2007
Peter strove to balance innovation with tradition. He was the first in the Napa Valley to introduce French oak barrels. He was an early pioneer in the use of glass-lined tanks, and was also one of the first to invest in cold fermentation to maintain freshness in white wine. Now that Peter is in his nineties, the family owned companies -- Charles Krug and CK Mondavi -- are being run by his sons Marc and Peter Mondavi Jr., who are, they say, 'literally betting the farm on the future.' The family is midway through a ten-year, $21.6 million project that includes replanting their 850-acre estate with Bordeaux varietals selected for the specific soil profiles in the vineyards.
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Marguerite Thomas
Oct 2, 2007
To describe Corti Brothers as a good food and wine store is like saying that Notre Dame Cathedral is a nice neighborhood church. Indeed, Corti Bros. is a gastronomic shrine to its loyal customers, offering to the epicurean faithful an array of soul-soothing and palate-pleasing fare that ranges from Argumato Lemon Olive Oil to Japanese finishing salts to the rare XSR 120 White Port.
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Marguerite Thomas
Nov 14, 2006
If you picture a place where someone might yodel one minute and burst into an aria from Barbieri di Seviglia the next, where ravioli filled with sauerkraut may be offered on a restaurant menu (I'm not kidding), and where Mediterranean fig and olive trees flourish right next to Alpine ski slopes, that place is the Alto Adige.
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Marguerite Thomas
Sep 19, 2006
Wine importer Terry Theise is the wunderkind of fine German and Austrian wines and of small, quality grower Champagnes. As the leading importer of Austrian wine to the U.S., he has introduced scores of American palates to the charms of Grüner Veltliner-an accomplishment that in itself might be enough to guarantee vinous sainthood.
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Marguerite Thomas
May 16, 2006
"What I was thinking was that I'd like to have some good dry rosé to drink. I'd lived in France for many years, specifically in Nice, in the south, where the best food is. While I was there I got used to having the best wine with the best food, and that wine was rosé."
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Marguerite Thomas
Dec 6, 2005
Which one of us has not taken pleasure in sharing a wine we've "discovered" with other wine aficionados? And don't we all delight in being invited to sample a delicious and heretofore untried wine? Some of the sparkling wine coming out recently from the Loire Valley is a "discovery" worthy of sharing with family and friends.
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Prosecco Primer