After exploring some ancient varieties from Greece and Armenia, I’m going to explore two old, rarer Italian grape varieties from Piedmont and Campania. Continue reading
Tag: history
Wine Review: Ancient White Varieties
Let’s explore 3 ancient white grapes from two of the oldest winemaking regions in the world. Continue reading
Wine Review: 1830 Solera PX
Sweet Pedro Ximenez (PX) can seemingly age forever. Let’s taste one with material in it dating back almost 200 years. What was going on in 1830? Continue reading
Wine Review: Atomo Lebanon
With Lebanon yet again being bombed and invaded by Israel (a pattern that seems to keep happening every 20 years), I decided to open a bottle of Lebanese wine to be connected with the suffering all over the Middle East, to remember the beauty and kindness I experienced in the region, and as a prayer for a just peace there. Continue reading
Wine Review: Communist Era 45-year-old Hungarian Wine
I found a 45 year old Hungarian red wine made during Communist rule. Is it still good or was it ever any good? Continue reading
Wine Tourism: Catalunya – Priorat & Emporda
Escape the extremely touristy Barcelona and explore the rest of Catalonia (Catalunya in Catalan) for its wine, food, history and culture. Continue reading
Wine Review: Top Entry Level Rioja
Here are a couple of my favorite Rioja producers at the entry level. Continue reading
Wine Review: Negrette
This South West France variety’s history is like a Dan Brown novel. However, what does it taste like? Continue reading
The Cult of Wine
I hosted a wine tasting recently with other wine geek friends and their significant others. However, one of the wine geeks brought her new boyfriend, who knew very little about wine. It was as if she was testing him. Would he be accepting of her lifestyle? Would he convert to being a wine lover too? Another wine lover, after several glasses of wine in him, asked the new boyfriend to share his feelings about what he was experiencing and learning while being surrounded by a bunch of wine encyclopedias commenting about every sip they were taking of the over a dozen bottles we had opened. This was after other wine geeks had shared their personal stories of how they came to love wine so much and for some, work in the industry. Then it suddenly hit me: being a wine lover is like being in a cult. Continue reading
Wine Review: Historic Wines from Catalonia
Catalonia (Catalunya in Catalan) is a small but important and diverse Spanish wine region with a lot of history. I’m going to try two wines from Catalonia that try to pay homage to that history. Continue reading