Celebrating life with Champagne. I love Champagne and I love this particular one quite a lot. Pol Roger is one of the last few champagne houses that are still entirely family owned. In fact, my very first wine tasting in New York years ago was a Wildman portfolio tasting, Pol Roger's importer, and a member... Continue Reading →
Monday Musings: Wine Education In The Age of Trump
This week I can't help but wondering how wine education will change under the new President-elect. Will we no longer study climate change and it's impact on wine grapes. Will we ignore all the evidence that points to climate change being largely a result of human activity. Will we also no longer study how to... Continue Reading →
Post Thanksgiving Recovery: Sipping Beaujolais Nouveau
Like many of you, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving replete with lots of family and lots of food. Recovering from this most festive and food oriented holiday is never easy. I had great wines yesterday from Spain and France, including a fantastic 1985 Burgundy from Musigny. It would be hard to top that I figured... Continue Reading →
Wine of the Week: Cremant de Limoux Rose from Domaine Martinolles
This Wednesday's wine of the week was a Cremant Rose from Martinolles that I had last night at Raouls with friends. The wine is made from a blend of 70% Chardonnay, 20% Chenin Blanc and 10% Pinot Noir. It is made using the traditional method and spends some 15 months in the bottle before being... Continue Reading →
Women in Wine: May Matta Aliah- Armagnac Ambassador, French Wine Expert, Graphic Designer
Sadly I missed a big Lebanon wine tasting today in New York City. It reminded me of my dear friend May who hails from Lebanon. I thought I would repost this blog about her.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have begun to interview women who work in the wine business in the United States as well. One of the people who was nice enough to have a chat with me about her work in wine was May Matta Aliah, owner of Red Dot Solutions. I met May some years ago when she taught a class on Sherry at the International Wine Center (IWC) as part of the WSET Diploma program. I later discovered that May was not only a wine educator but also a fabulous graphic designer. This is a very long post without photos but I haven’t yet been either to Armagnac or Lebanon and have no nice photos to share. Must remedy that.
In fact, May has been my graphic designer for the past few years and I am very happy with the results at Vigneto Communications and another…
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Italian Indigenous Varieties: Lambrusco Grasparossa del Castelvetro
This week's indigenous variety is Lambrusco Grasparossa. It hails from the areas around Modena and Reggio Emilia in the province of Emilia Romagna. It is considered to be a tad less refined than last week's variety - Lambrusco di Sorbara. It makes wines in the frizzante and amabile styles which people usually drink young and... Continue Reading →
Wine Wednesday: Franklin Tate Chardonnay from Margaret River, Australia
It's a struggle to even put two sentences together today after the rout that was the American election yesterday and all that I personally believe in but the President and former Secretary of State had the presence of mind to get up and make speeches and put a good face on it so whom am... Continue Reading →
Women In Wine Fridays: Women Winemakers In Israel
I wish that I had written any of these posts myself, about women winemakers in Israel but alas I have not met any yet in my wine travels. I wanted to write about Israel today because it is the 21st anniversary of Rabin's murder. I remember that day perfectly. I had just moved back to... Continue Reading →
Quinta Dos Castelares – A Winery To Watch From Douro Valley
On my recent trip to the Douro Valley, I was amazed at the breadth and diversity of producers. Some with new wineries others with generations of history and port barrels behind them. One of the men behind this winery in Freixo de Espada à Cinta in the Upper Douro Valley, reminded me of an American from... Continue Reading →
Wine Wednesday: Vecchie Terre di Montefili
I tried this wonderful Chianti Riserva last week at a tasting in New York. Vecchie Terre Montefili – Chianti Classico. The property which I believe has changed owners in the last years is located at 400 meters above sea level in Greve in Chianti. The symbol on the label is taken from two cypress trees... Continue Reading →