Bordeaux Under One Roof, an event sponsored by http://www.bordeaux.com, is a public walk around tasting of white and red wines only from the Bordeaux region of France. This year I was able to attend a short lecture and tasting that I thought wine 101ers could learn from as well. Our speaker, Shelby Ledgerwood, “teaches about…
Accompanying the two wines recently sent to me for review was this message, “As you may know, Planet Bordeaux wines include 7 AOC’s – Bordeaux Blanc, Bordeaux Supérieur, Bordeaux Supérieur Blanc, Bordeaux Rosé, Bordeaux Clairet, Bordeaux Rouge and Crémant (sparkling) – and represent 52% of the Bordeaux wine region (270 million bottles in 2013). Overall, 13 bottles…
Dial M for Merlot, by Howard K I was smitten and bitten in the very first chapter of “Dial M for Merlot” by Howard K. Who doesn’t love a hero that starts out looking and behaving like a complete nerd only to be awakened by his first taste of really good wine? Then, be teased…
When I started this wine journey over 20 years ago, the first large events I attended were held at The Wine House in West Los Angeles. (I attended small classes too and I’m pleased to see that they still offer both.) Anyway, the Cabernet Fest was one of my favorites. I believe we had an…
It’s funny, when I’m out to dinner or in a wine bar, and I see a friend or acquaintance, I’m often asked what I’m drinking. Then a strange thing happens – they order the same thing. I can only guess that they have read my wine reviews and have agreed with my ratings enough that…
Oh, that elusive reference wine drinkers make to “terroir” sets my wine 101 readers to wonder…what the heck is this person trying to say with that one word? Short answer: Everything that went into getting that grape to become that wine. According to the Oxford Dictionary, terroir is “The complete natural environment in which a…
The label on a wine bottle tells you the vintage year, which is also the year that the grapes were harvested. What the label doesn’t tell you is what happened that year and why you should choose one year over another. For example, we are in a drought right now which we may not remember…
What’s with those crazy wine descriptors? Wine 101ers are often bewildered by a wine that promises to offer “notes of freshly sliced apricots on a warm afternoon” or “deep lingering tannins” that they simply can’t find when they taste the wine. Or worse yet, it’s all that they can find because the thought was…
I’ve been asked to present wine tastings for people in their home and at events. Though this may seem a simple enough task, I’m always considering the best way for the presentation so that each wine is given its due thought and consideration. (The last thing you want to see at a tasting…
Whether your wine choices are motivated by habit, price, a favorite wine grape or a wine grape growing region, this article will help you move forward from your current wine tastes by expanding your palate – just a bit. One of my staff writers, Rusty Sly, holds a monthly tasting and brief lesson at Valencia…
