Last October, reports of global wine shortages and looming price hikes surfaced after a notably difficult growing season. The production decline affected nearly every region worldwide, though Europe was hit particularly badly, experiencing its worst grape harvest in over 30 years. This year’s harvest is now all but complete in the Northern Hemisphere, and the […]
You’ve done the wine tours and counter tastings, but, until you’ve barrel tasted, you haven’t really lived. Normally, a consumer’s first taste of any given wine is the finished product. Barrel tasting gives you not only a sneak peek into what’s to come, but also a unique chance to meet the winemaker, lock in futures, […]
You’ve befriended your butcher, chatted Camembert and chèvre with your cheesemonger, and are on a first-name basis with your fishmonger. Now it’s time to get to know your winemaker. Specifically: McManis Family Vineyards, a team of fourth- and fifth-generation farmers who’ve been working the northern interior lands of California since 1938.
At first stroll, the Green String Farm at Cline Family Cellars doesn’t seem different from other agricultural plots in Sonoma wine country. Rows of vineyards cover the landscape, a barn rises on the horizon, and chickens cluck happily in the distance. The place looks, feels, and sounds like Sonoma. But then, if you’re lucky, you’ll […]
Bicoastal bar legend Erick Castro wears multiple hats in multiple locales. In New York City, he’s known as the kind-eyed, mustachioed proprietor of Lower East Side staple Boilermaker. In San Francisco, the launchpad of Castro’s career, his name and legacy trace back a good two decades. In San Diego, he’s the man behind two of […]
The world of wine is confusing for many reasons, not least of which is the nomenclature. Yet few linguistic intricacies are as puzzling as the ones surrounding Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (SLWC), a Napa Valley producer with global impact and maddening attention to detail. The winery turned Napa Cabernet Sauvignon into a major player and […]
“I’ve tried every kind of wine with Indian food, whether it’s something my mom made or something I made,” Rajat Parr says. The James Beard Award-winning sommelier was born in Calcutta, India, and attended the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, N.Y., before launching his star-studded wine career. Following posts at Rubicon and Fifth […]
The siren song of California warbles with star-making allure. Promises of gold, agricultural wealth, world-class wine country, and, of course, marquee lights have seduced centuries of pilgrims to point wagons west. (And east, north, or south, depending on their point of origin.) Those hoping to manifest destinies with a drink in hand should peck the […]
Sauvignon Blanc is produced in so many styles in so many places, from the mineral-driven wines of France’s Loire Valley, to the racy iterations of New Zealand and Chile, to the floral elegance of those from Bordeaux, to name just a few. The grape is exceeded only by Chardonnay as the most planted “international” white […]
