by Patricia Guy | Feb 8, 2015 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
There is no other important red quite like Amarone. Amarone is a celebration of the senses. Its heady fragrance overflows with scents of cherries, ripe plums and violets, as well as intriguing wisps of plump raisins and Church incense. Its zone of production, its...
by Lucy Gordan | Feb 5, 2015 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
So Pope Francis doesn’t enjoy only sweets, especially, ice cream. He drank Italian wines with his meals in the Philippines and only two days after his return on January 21 he received a delegation of some 180 Italian wine producers, vintners, sommeliers, and...
by Scott W. Clemens | Feb 5, 2015 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog, Wine Reviews
The illustrious dessert wines of Sauternes had a difficult vintage in 2012. Three of the most renowned chateaux, Yquem, Rieussec and Suduiraut, did not produce a 2012. Yquem did not produce a 2010 either, which will undoubtedly preserve its reputation and inflate the...
by Scott W. Clemens | Jan 16, 2015 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
2013 Massimo Prestige Vineyards Marlborough, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: My local store carries this wine for about $9.00 and it’s a steal. I’m a great fan of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, and this one leaves no doubt about its origins with its gooseberry-lime...
by Scott W. Clemens | Jan 2, 2015 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
While Gewürztraminer has strong associations with both Alsace and Germany, few realize that it originates from the South Tyrolean town of Tramin at the foot of the Dolomite mountains in an area now known as the Alto Adige in reference to the Adige river that flows...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 17, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog, Wine Reviews
Properly aged wine may be an anachronism, but if you have the time and patience, the rewards can be stupendous. True, in aging wine you never know what you’re going to get. More often than not it’s a disappointment. But like digging in a mine, you will occasionally...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 17, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
WHISKY DREAMS “Having Your Dram & Eating It Too” By Riannon Walsh 203 pages, $19 What a lovely book! I rarely review a cookbook favorably if it doesn’t have good photography. Well, this one has no photography and it’s still a special book. It’s one...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 15, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
In May of 1985 I attended a party at Palazzo Antinori in Florence, to celebrate the family’s 600th anniversary in the wine business. I was seated next to Lodovico Antinori, who told me about his recent development of property in Bolgheri, where he planned on...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 15, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
Though wine is now produced in all 50 states, here in California I see more wines from the West Coast, Europe, South America and Australia, than wines from other states. My experience with Michigan wines was limited to judging a few Rieslings at The San...
by Scott W. Clemens | Nov 15, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog, Wine Reviews
©2008 Perusing wine lists on a recent visit to New Orleans I kept gravitating toward Albariño, attracted by its ability to pair with spicy cuisine, as wells as by its value. Albariño is a hot variety these days, as Pinot Grigio lovers look for similarly crisp...
by Susanna Gaertner | Nov 15, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
Arriving in Santiago for the first time is thrilling: from the plane the Andes rear up but faintly, as though behind a scrim. You expect the curtain to rise any moment, then it does, and there is the city, cupped and tucked beneath the massive mountains. I would...
by Susanna Gaertner | Nov 14, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
photo courtesy Weingut Hans Wirsching So many wonderful wineries located in some of the most beautiful small villages in all of Germany: welcome to Franconia. Located about a two-hour train trip southeast of Frankfurt, Franconia is home to one of the world’s most...
