Tag: wine

Rose Wine Types

With the advent of warmer weather, rose wines have become a hot ticket with wine lovers, particularly those who want something cold for patios on the warmest of days. This is a pleasing way to beat the heat, not to mention how well dry pink wines work well with finger foods like cheeses, nuts, crackers,…


Don’t Call It Champagne

I cut my finger on the metal capsule covering the cork while opening a wine bottle the other day, so I washed the wound, put some vaseline on it and, lacking a band-aid, I used a small piece of scotch tape. The previous sentence is a fundamental illustration of why brand names are so vital…


Wine Gadgets

Wine lore says that the cork, which comes from the bark of the cork oak tree, may first have been used to seal wine bottles by the Benedictine monk Dom Perignon, replacing wooden stoppers in about 1670. This advance then led to the development of literally dozens of gadgets designed to remove them from bottles….


Restaurant Wine Prices and Obscurity

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to wind down over the last year, I noticed a sad trend in some upscale restaurants: wine list prices seemed to be rising. I don’t mean only at Michelin-starred places. I refer also to simple, quality cafes that once priced their wines at about three times wholesale, or twice retail….


Dining in the Yakima Valley Feels Like Family Because It Is

Look down on Washington’s Yakima Valley in springtime and you’ll see one of the great agricultural landscapes of America—miles of lush, green fields of hops, acres of blossoming fruit trees and rows of vineyards. In winter the trees and vines are bare, the air is crisp and so clear that it is possible to see…


The More We Know

An experience recently changed the way I look at wine — and especially how others view it. I pulled the natural cork to open a bottle of wine and poured a glass. Instantly I knew that it had been ruined by cork taint. The cork had been infected with a chemical called TCA that I…


Rare Varietals

Younger wine buyers seem smitten with the notion that commonplace grapes like chardonnay and cabernet still hold some interest, but they also know that unusual varieties can offer excitement. As a result, specialty wine shops in the United States now are being asked to carry more unusual wines that the shop owners once happily dismissed…


Best Regional Wines

More places around the world make wine today than ever before, and part of the reason is that global climate change has moderated the temperatures in places than once were so cold in winter that they often led to vines freezing and dying. As temperatures have risen, winter doesn’t automatically spell doom for the more…


Superior Sips

There’s much more to looking sophisticated with a glass in hand than “Swirl, Sniff, and Sip”—or in other words, to release the aromatic scents, identify fruits and flavors, and taste. Before you raise your glass, you’ll want to … Wine tastings can be both fun and educational. (Jack Frog/Shutterstock) Know Your Grapes Even if you…


Euphemisms in Wine

Most people buy wine randomly. That appears to be the case from what I’ve observed in supermarkets. I heard one woman say she liked a particular chardonnay because it had a blue label. Another shopper said he wanted to try a dark red wine, like Chianti. I need not say that the color of the…