wine in the news
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New Food and Wine Pairings: Sweet Wines + Chocolate
I'm a person of strong opinions, which I frequently take pleasure in expressing. But when it comes to wine, I try to exercise caution with that tendency, because I feel that the appreciation and enjoyment of wine is a very personal experience that should only be sparingly pre-empted or tainted by 'expert' advice. However, very much like art and design, even among variations of tastes, styles, and approaches, there are still some universal, often fundamental, 'rules,' if you will, about which elements work together and which ones frankly do not. Red Wine and Chocolate do not work together.
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Classic Food and Wine Pairings: Pinot Noir + Duck Breast
I love duck. It has long been one of my very favorite things. I love duck breast cooked just under medium with a nice crisp layer on that wonderful fat. I love duck confit, duck stock, Chinese duck and scallion pancakes, and duck skin cracklins — it's all fantastic! And while I'm professing love for things, how about pinot noir: I love the sweet and musty Carneros pinots, I love the amazing pinots coming from Oregon (I went to Willamette a few years back), and I have had my share of amazing earthy burgundy as well. Though I don't consider myself a wine expert, I know enough to know how little I know, and this makes me eager to learn and appreciate. So when I embarked on this exploration of classic food and wine pairings, I jumped on the duck and Pinot Noir idea and never looked back.
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New Food and Wine Pairings: Vegetarian Fare
Early in my journey of discovering wine, I single-handedly (and perhaps somewhat arrogantly) concluded that it was impossible for a vegetarian to fully appreciate wine as a meat-eater could. I felt that there was no way for someone who abstained from animal fat to enjoy the rich and powerful red wines I had come to love and establish in my mind, naïvely, as the point of reference for wine in general. But that was then; my perspective is more nuanced now, as a result of having learned a great deal through tasting and formal study. And although I still don't believe a vegetarian can fully appreciate the synergy of a full-bodied red wine well-matched with food, I do acknowledge the plethora of wines that actually beautifully complement vegetable or grain dishes. But there's a catch to pairing vegetarian food.
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Recent Reviews+Interviews
Longtime Napa Winery Continues to Make Quality Accessible — An Interview with the Senior Winemaker of Merryvale Vineyards—
A visit to the grounds of Merryvale Vineyards reveals everything we've come to expect of a Napa Valley winery: graceful design, serene landscaping, warm hospitality, and, of course, quality-driven wines. On scratching the surface, though, we discover something that doesn't seem quite as common anymore among producers here: a commitment to making wines of high caliber that are accessible to more consumers in the marketplace. With its entry-level Starmont line, it seems that Merryvale has struck a fine balance by offering wines made from top vineyard sources, all at a higher availability and lower price point than we might expect for their quality. In addition, through its smaller-production and more premium lines that showcase the best of its own estate vineyards, Merryvale provides elevated options for more discriminating palates. To learn more about its marketing strategy and winemaking philosophy, I met with the winery's Communications Director, Chris O'Gorman, and its Senior Winemaker, Sean Foster, in the dramatic ambiance of its historical Cask Room.
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An Interview with the Winemaker of Dry Creek Valley's Montemaggiore
Biodynamics. Based in a holistic and largely spiritual world view, it seeks to balance the interrelationship of land with the plants and animals thriving on it as a tightly integrated and self-nourishing system. While a great deal of biodynamic principles remain unexplained and in many cases even questionable, increasingly more grape growers in the wine industry are embracing its practices. They do so in an effort to bring better balance not only to their vineyards but also to the wines ultimately made from them. One such producer is Montemaggiore, located on a hill overlooking Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley. I initially met its winemaker, Lise Ciolino, at the 2009 Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting event whereupon I was struck with her candor and enthusiasm in discussing the close relationship between her land and her wines. It was only upon sitting down with her later, while taking in the stunning vistas of the estate she shares with her husband Vince, that I learned of the unexpected route that led her to winemaking.
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Boutique Producer Gives Voice to the Rustic Elegance of Alexander Valley An Interview with the Proprietor Winemakers of Garden Creek Vineyards
When we think of a garden, we're likely to imagine a small plot of land that's meticulously tended to and lovingly cared for — a testament, really, to the connection between person and plant. Albeit on a slightly larger scale, it's with similar attention to detail and devotion to nurturing that Karin and Justin Miller look after their own garden: the vineyards of Alexander Valley's Garden Creek Ranch and Winery. I'd first met Justin at Sonoma County's Best of the Boutiques wine tasting event, where I was immediately struck with a palpable sense of his passion for the land and dedication to articulating its message through the handcrafting of superpremium wines with spellbinding depth and seductive complexity. Some time thereafter, I sat down with the couple over lunch in the comfortable and candelit interior of their ranch house to talk about their vines and wines, and in doing so, discovered a singularity in their approach not only to winemaking but to living life as a whole.
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wine in the news
Please make the Cache directory writable.
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