A Free Wine Encyclopedia!We have had some really fun wines the past few months, wines that lend themselves well to food. Many sales personnel use the term “this is a food wine” when trying to cover up some unusual characteristic. Most of them probably don’t understand what a “food wine” really is. It is much more than a… read more »
The history and legacy of the Rioja district in Spain is rich in tales and stories. I would suggest, if your are interested, a book by Jan Read “Wines of the Rioja”. I was captivated by the accounts of not only Rioja, but of the capital of Rioja, Logrofio. The Rioja district of Spain is… read more »
As in the rest of the wine making world, it seems each region in California takes on its own personality. Certain grapes tend to fair better in certain regions. The Mayacamas mountains for its big Cabernets, the central coast for its rich Pinot noir, the Carneros district for its luscious Chardonnay and Amador County for… read more »
I am excited about this month’s recipe, you see I never get to write them, I just test them before I show them to you. This month, however, I gave our two food editors the month off and set out to complement our imported red wine of the month with an appropriate meal. The wine… read more »
As the French have their noble grapes of the respective regions, so do the Italians. In Bordeaux France, for instance, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Merlot are the noble grapes. In Italy, the three noble vines are Nebbiolo (responsible for Barolo and Barberesco etc.), Sangiovese (responsible for Chianti and Brunello di Montelcino… read more »
How do you successfully introduce a new line of wines in a super competitive environment in the middle of a recession? That was the challenge facing the new Winterbrook partnership in early 1992. Though the winery was established in 1983, early 1992 marked a new era for the fledging facility. John Sullivan, Gregory Popovich and… read more »
Louis L’Amour, the late writer of westerns, was a family friend. He had a library of books that would knock your socks off. One day as I was admiring his enormous “room of books”, he pointed to a section of about 20 paperbacks and said, “If you read every one of those books, you would… read more »
Here’s a recipe that is a perfect mate to this month’s red wine selection: grilled leg-of-lamb served with a robust, though not piquant, sauce. But please read it all, before starting. Prepare the sauce ahead, reheating before serving. Allow 4 hours for preparation. The sauce is adapted for lamb using leftover bones and a technique… read more »
The San José de Santiago brand is a brainstorm operation based on the high quality grapes of Chile’s Pacific coast. You have, no doubt, seen and/or enjoyed the excellent fruits that arrive during our winter in North America from Chile. I have been relishing these treats since childhood. The green grocers in my family used… read more »
Two decades ago, two brothers, John and Karl Giguiere (grandsons of Washington State wheat farmer Robert Hugh Phillips), along with John’s wife, Lane Giguiere, pioneered the development of vineyards in northwestern Yolo County. Their family had acquired a ranch there in 1946 and had followed the local traditions of farming dryland wheat and barley, and… read more »