The Dark Effect of the Wine Glut
Wine prices are meager right now, which is a great deal for us wine drinkers and sommeliers. Problems come in when the prices are too low. This is happening in the …
Wine
Buil & Giné “Giné Giné” Priorat
We’re still talking about that meal more than a year ago at the biker’s bar in Priorat: Three hours. Platter after platter of grilled, smoky, iron-rich meat. And wine like this, …
Ravenswood 2001 Zinfandel, Teldeschi Dry Creek Valley
This is a purplish wine with hints of brown, and the deep colors perhaps serve to prepare you for the rich and almost heady experience that follows. The nose is somewhat …
Food & Wine Pairings
“If I got anything out of this relationship, it is cheek meat.” A vignette from a book never finished. Check out our Food & Wine Pairing guides for more. Snapper We …
Enrico Santini 2005 “Poggio Al Moro” Bolgheri
See if this sounds familiar. Someone touts or perhaps even gives you a high-priced Super Tuscan, maybe a bottle with a recognizable name. Or you’re at a big-time tasting, stop at …
Ethics and Wine Critics
There has been an ongoing conversation about ethics regarding wine writing. Specifically, wine reviews. Should a (well-known) critic and his or her colleagues take samples and/or go on junkets that have …
Latour on Latour. The wines of Domaine Louis Latour with Louis-Fabrice Latour
When Louis-Fabrice Latour came to the Wine School and poured his wines. Simonnet Febvre Cremant de Bourgogne Louis Latour 2006 “Duet” Chardonnay-Viognier,Vin de Pays des Coteaux de L’Ardeche Louis Latour 2006 …
Chateau D’Alzon 1949 Saint Emilion
The story behind this bottle is intriguing. Discovered in a basement in Philadelphia recently, it was part of a cache of French wines that had been cellared and apparently forgotten about …
Italian Wine Reviews
It’s been a month since the holidays and I’m just now going over my notes for some of the wines consumed during those festive evenings, and some of the bottles subsequently emptied …
Casa Librandi Ciro, “Duca di San Felice” Riserva, 2003, DOC, Calabria
The Ciro DOC is home to Gaglioppo, a vigorous grape known as “The Black Prince.” Genetically related to Sicilian Frappato, it was used in ancient times to make crimissa. Today it …
Huber 2008 Gruner Veltliner
Celebrating Christmas with a traditional “Feast of the Seven Fishes?” Or Hanukkah with some classic potato latkes and sour cream or apple sauce? If so, this is the wine for the …
The Wine School vs. Vince McMahon
A blast from the past! When the WWE went against the Wine School… Vince McMahon Issues Smackdown Against Wine SchoolPhiladelphia, PA. Vince McMahon is taking on his oddest foe to date: …
The Sommelier Smackdown
To celebrate the notoriety we’ve garnered thanks to being singled out by World Wrestling megabucks impresario Vince McMahon; we recently held a mano a mano a mano red wine competition featuring three of …
Sylla Sebaste 2001 “Bussia” Barolo
For the past few years, there has been an ongoing debate regarding what constitutes a “true” Barolo…or makes a Barolo truly great. On one side of the aisle are the Traditionalists, …
Terriccio 2005 Tassinaia
Well balanced, this wine offers up two cores of flavor: the first is an interplay of dried flowers and rich earth; the second a note of delightful cherry and chocolate—an elegant …
Hot Hot Hot
I preach this to the Wine School’s students every chance I get, but since there are readers of the School’s blog who I haven’t yet had the chance to meet, it …