by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 14, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
text ©2008 France has cognac, Scotland has scotch, Peru and Chile claim pisco as their national spirit, and yet until recently few of us in the United States had heard of cachaça, Brazil’s spirit of choice. With the caipirinha craze, as well as the opening of...
by Lee Daley | Nov 14, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
text & photos ©2010 Host country for the World Cup 2010 Soccer Games, South Africa’s time has come. Buffed and polished to the nth degree, the nine host cities exude excitement and pride. Cape Town is where the June 11 kick-off begins and the “Mother City” of...
by Susanna Gaertner | Nov 13, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
Text and photos ©2012 The Rhone valley came to the San Francisco mint on July 14th to celebrate Bastille Day and give aficionados a chance to savor some of these blended beauties. We found a lot to like! The SF Mint is a truly marvelous venue for a wine tasting:...
by Susanna Gaertner | Nov 13, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
©2010 Like many border areas in Europe, this precious parcel of wine-making heaven has been tossed between nations — here, Austria and Italy — and the wines reflect this double heritage. The Dolomites protect the vineyards from wind and allow the 300+ days of sunshine...
by Susanna Gaertner | Nov 10, 2014 | Wine & Spirits blog
Barossa. McLaren Vale. Coonawarra, Margaret River. Most U.S. wine consumers are familiar with these names for they are the Australian wine regions which export abundantly overseas: those chesty Chardonnays and heady reds from Western Australia and the old-...
by Susanna Gaertner | Nov 10, 2014 | Wine & Spirits blog
I recently went on a wine safari of Switzerland. This is the only way to define a voyage of discovery as filled with tantalizing tastes and sights as you might experience during a safari through the African veldt. Only here the exotic flora is rare grape...
by Susanna Gaertner | Nov 10, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
text and photos © by Susanna Gaertner Our jumbo Airbus 340, on its recently inaugurated non-stop service from San Francisco to Zurich, with its exuberantly colorful markings is a novel sight. As I look down on it before departure, the man next to me wants to know...
by Scott W. Clemens | Oct 9, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog, Wine Reviews
To arrive at the wines for this year’s PINOT NOIR SUMMIT we tasted over 400 Pinots. We weedled that list down to the top forty-four wines, which ranged from $20 to $60 with an average price of $32. My favorite dozen were: Asuncion Ridge Vineyards, 2010 Estate, Central...
by Scott W. Clemens | Oct 9, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog, Wine Reviews
2012 Dry Creek Vineyard, Clarksburg, Chenin Blanc: In the mid-1970s Chenin Blanc was more popular than Chardonnay. But as it fell out of fashion Dry Creek Vineyards never gave up on it. They’ve been producing a Clarksburg Chenin for decades, and the current...
by Scott W. Clemens | Oct 1, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
While attending the Alba Wines Exhibition, I took the opportunity to visit Cantine Giacomo Ascheri, which quietly became a destination winery with the 2007 opening of a hotel and restaurant on-premise in Bra (the capital of the Roero area and the center of the Slow...
by Scott W. Clemens | Oct 1, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
Text and photos © Scott W Clemens For the epicurean traveler, Northern Italy is a revelation of spectacular vistas, romantic hill towns, unexpectedly diverse cultures, wonderful food, and a plethora of finely crafted wines from indigenous grapes. To get an idea of the...
by Lisa Richardson | Sep 28, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
by Lisa RichardsonPhotos by: John Murphy, James and Lisa RichardsonAn exhilarating adventure is akin to these tasting notes: Balboa Winery, 2009 Reserve, Columbia Valley, Eidolon, Candy Mountain and Pepper Bridge Vineyards — 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Syrah,...
