Dominio Mano a Mano 2009 Venta La Ossa
Portuguese Wine Review One of the best-kept secrets in the wine industry is the new crop of modern Portuguese red wines. This is a great example and should be sought out …
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Coopers Best Extra Stout
Export Stout Review Just as dark and scented as a freshly pulled espresso. A full-bodied stout with rich milk chocolate on the palate. Strands of smoky molasses and saltwater taffy develop …
Jaipur IPA by Thornbridge Brewery
Despite its august-sounding name, Thornbridge is a relatively new British brewery (it was founded in 20005). Their beers tend to hew close to classic styles but cleaner and fresher. This India …
Philadelphia Daily News: NECTAR OF THE GODS
The story was originally published by the Philadelphia Daily News on July 20, 2007. The article is reprinted solely for educational purposes. It is intended to offer insight into the history of …
Associated Press: The perfect drink for the Super Bowl
During Superbowl season, beer and football almost seem like synonyms. But what if you or your crowd prefer wine?
Since most foods served on Superbowl Sunday – the usual array of chili, ribs, chips and dip – are salty, David Snyder, a wine instructor at the Wine School of Philadelphia, suggest high acid wines such as Champagne or sauvignon blanc.
“Champagne with potato chips goes perfectly,” he says. “High acid wine goes with salty foods because it’s going to moderate the saltiness. It’s a fantastic combination.”
But be careful when it comes to chili or ribs, especially if they’re hot and spicy. Low-acid whites, such as chardonnay, or high-tannin reds, such as cabernet sauvignon, react poorly with the heat.
“It will override the natural flavors and the food will end up tasting terrible,” Snyder says.
Philadelphia City Paper: Gary Vaynerchuk at the Wine School
Wine guru Gary Vaynerchuk will be at the Wine School of Philadelphia today, June 12, to promote his new book — Gary Vaynerchuk’s 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight and Bring Thunder to Your World (Rodale Books, $19.95). Vaynerchuk– or Gary V, as his followers, the “Vayniacs,” call him — is the director of operations for Springfield, N.J.’s Wine Library, but he’s best-known for his high-energy video podcast on tv.winelibrary.com, where he moves away from stuffy wine practices by using terms like “sniffy sniff” and asking whether a bottle “brings the thunder” when he reviews them. The Internet celebrity has appeared on Ellen and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and he’s been featured in print in places like The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Time.
Old Philly Bitters
That is a Classic Bitters Advertisement One of the best results of the Pre-Prohibition cocktail trend was the re-discovery of bitters. It’s great to see some of the classic bitters being …
Direct sales invigorate wine-lovers
Local wine aficionados love to grouse, often with good reason, about how state regulations can sometimes stand between them and that coveted vintage.
But they are divided over whether a favorable decision in a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court would do much to make more varieties available, or cheaper, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The court is being asked to decide whether states can limit direct, winery-to-wine-lover sales.
Keith Wallace, president of the Wine School in Philadelphia, had 53 phone messages the day after the Supreme Court heard arguments, and knows that oenophiles are watching the case.
Wallace spends $30,000 a year on wine. He said that recent innovations by the Liquor Control Board mean that “you have an enormous selection available.
“The problem is that the price point is often 10 to 30 percent higher than anywhere else,” he said.
The best-case scenario, he said, would be a Supreme Court decision that dealt a mortal blow to the state-store system.
But the odds are that Pennsylvania’s unique system, criticized for decades but politically resilient, will survive relatively unchanged.
Cuna de Reyes 2009 Rioja Crianza (Spain)
Aged for a year in French and American oak, this wine is mostly Tempranillo with some Garnacha and Mazuelo. Grapes are sourced from vineyards in Nájera, in the southern edge of Rioja …
Juve Y Camps 2007 Milesime Gran Reserva Brut Cava
The family behind this bottle has been growing grapes in Catalonia, Spain, for over two centuries. Since 1921, they have been producing the Spanish sparkling wine known as Cava. Like many wineries in …
Michele Satta 2005 Cavaliere (Super Tuscan)
A voluptuous Sangiovese with a slight salinity that veers to black olive but pulls back into a beautiful layered expression of chocolate. A glass-staining beauty with plump blackberry and kirsch notes …
Passitivo 2010 Primitivo, Puglia
Judging wines isn’t a linear job. It’s not really about grading all wines as a spectrum of quality. We don’t judge a Red Zinfandel from Russian River next to a bottle …
Neil Ellis 2009 Chardonnay, South Africa
Tasting Notes A reviving style of Chardonnay. Exotic spices and fruit lead the charge into a flashbang of crisp acidity trailing a contrail of wood smoke. Ginger, kiwi, and peach …
We Love Bison
I have recently, for the most part, given up beef. I’m not a vegetarian – far from it. I’m not fighting for some political cause. It’s just that, more and more, …
Fattoria di Magliano 2009 “Heba” Morellino di Scansano
The Tuscan coast is a hotbed for winemaking, especially for Cabernet Sauvignon. In Scansano, however, the focus is the Sangiovese grape, locally known as Morellino. Warmer than inland regions like Chianti, …
Bremerton 2007 Verdelho, Langhorne Creek, Australia
A winning wine from Bremerton in Langhorne Creek. A great style that is not typically seen the the states. Verdelho is best known as one of the grapes of Madeira. It is also one of Australia’s niche varietals. This bottle starts off with honey and peach, moves toward grapefruit and then veers to verbena and citrus on the finish.