I’ve been a fan of Schramsberg and its sparkling wines for the 15 years or so I’ve been reviewing wine, and my recent tasting of the famed California winery’s Mirabelle Brut Rosé reminded me of why. I can’t think of another American sparkling wine house that delivers with the same quality and consistency.
There’s nothing quite as bittersweet as drinking a wine, loving it, and then, over the subsequent years, seeing that wine get more and more expensive, to the point at which you simply can’t afford it anymore. On the one hand, you’re happy to have had the opportunity to drink the wine when it was still […]
Two major technological innovations hit American consumers in 1972. Pocket calculators debuted (average price: $100 and up), decades before smartphones would render them useless. Subscription-based monthly wine clubs also launched, providing generations of fallback gifts for that weird uncle nobody really knows, and the wellspring of California Cab your dad sips while watching reruns of M*A*S*H […]
Last Monday, The New York Times published an article with implications for anyone who likes to buy wine online. Titled “Wines Are No Longer Free to Travel Across State Lines,” the piece detailed the intricacies of interstate wine shipping. Its conclusion? Consumers from all but 14 states can no longer legally ship wine across state […]
Send all questions to: advice@vinepair.com Is it weird that I hate pumpkin beers? And is there any way to escape them this time of year? Not weird at all, kind sir. I hate them as well. Never been my thing. This year I’ve had a few good ones that have me rethinking my stance, but I want […]
The wine market in the U.S. is booming. The days of deciding whether you’d prefer a red or white to accompany your entree are long gone; choices now include rose and orange. (Hello, millennials!) Despite our relatively young wine industry, and cultural conditions like age restrictions, the United States consumes more wine by volume than […]
Two years from now, it will have all seemed inevitable. You will want wine, and instead of going to your local brick-and-mortar store, you will log onto your Amazon Prime account, do a quick search, compare prices, glance at ratings, and order. It will be delivered to your doorstep. For free. Industry observers and consumers […]
Mourvèdre is one of our favorite red grapes. It buds and ripens late, produces firm wines that can be high in alcohol, and creates deliciously earthy wines with soft fruit flavors. One of the many glorious grape varietals of the Mediterranean, the grape is extremely popular in the Rhone Valley and Provence regions of France (hello, […]
Making wine is risky business. Not only does it take costly equipment, from temperature-controlled tanks to pneumatic presses to oak barrels; it also includes some high stakes real estate and often-unpredictable biochemical reactions that keep winemakers constantly on their toes from fermentation right through to bottling. The biggest risk factor of them all? Mother Nature.
