Grape of the Day

As a broad classification, the most expensive wines in the world are Burgundies. Primarily red, but a few whites as well. Are they worth it? It depends who you ask, but don't ask me as I will never know.  There is a website that every year compiles a list of the 10 most expensive labels on average and shows that average retail price. And, it is not split by vintage, so the most prized vintages are ever more expensive. In 2021, 9 of the top 10 are Burgundies (the other one being a TBA Riesling) and 8 of the top 10 cost more than $10,000 per 750 ml bottle, on average. Compare to 2019, when only 5 exceeded $10,000. In just 2 years, the price to make this esteemed list has gone up by more than 50%. That is inflation. The number one wine on the list is the Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru weighing in at an average of $32,857 per 750 ml bottle. On the 2020 list, the same wine was not #1, but it was only about $17,000 per bottle. What happened there? Who drinks this stuff? Presumably, it...

What makes you like a wine better than another wine? I don't know. It could be that it tastes like a Hawaiian pizza, that's it's overly oaky, or that it's so tannic that you're still puckered up from last night's glass. While I've exaggerated a bit, I have heard descriptions that approached each of those from various people describing wines they love. On the other hand, if you are reading a description of wine from people who are experts in the field or at least purport to be, you'll likely see descriptors a bit different from those. What are their keys and if you understood them, would they make a difference to you? It might be easier to start with what they are not. I've never heard a real wine geek describe what they really like in a wine with a particularly simple description. And, if you read a review of a great wine, it might go on and on ... and on. It's that last "and on" after the ellipsis that should be telltale. Experienced w...

Perhaps it's the alcohol. Maybe it's that you are just doing something fun. Could it be that only nice people drink wine? No, I know it's not that as I've had the other experience as well. But, by and large, when out tasting wine whether at a winery, a wine bar or restaurant, or just wherever it's an option, nice people seem to abound.  Consider yesterday. We chose to take our relatively new puppy (she's 4 1/2 months old now) out to do some wine tasting. We chose two wineries, one of which we had been to previously and the other which we had heard good things about, that claimed to be dog friendly. And, both were. Arriving at the first one, poor little Lola was amazed at everything around her -- the sights, the sounds, the smells, all the people, and even a few other dogs. While I went to get us wine, Lisa found a "sofa" on one side of an outdoor table. A couple less than half our ages was on the other side. I don't expect we have much in common wi...

Restaurants and banquet halls love large gatherings. They often have open bars and to go with the open bars, their charges for alcoholic beverages are often quite exorbitant. And, frankly, they like nothing better than the wine drinkers. More so than with other alcoholic beverages, they are able to move their bad wines at good wine prices. Really? How does that happen? There are a few brands that you can see over and over at functions like this. Typically, they have something in common with a more famous brand. But, these are the mass-produced wines from out of the way vineyards that a restaurant or banquet hall can put out there as the same thing as the top tier wine whose name it sounds like.  But, and there is a big but there, they don't resemble each other. They're not produced from grapes from the same vineyards, perhaps not even the same regions. They're not produced using the same exacting techniques. And, they don't taste anything remotely like the wine they are...

Some restaurants have what they call a Reserve List. This might be wines that are higher-priced, special wines, wines that they store or handle differently, wines that are poured in bigger or better glasses, or simply better wines. Some people always order off the Reserve List; others never do. I tend to look to the Reserve List in special situations: when it's "Half Off Night," when there is a steal on there, or on special occasions. Not all wines on the Reserve List are created (or priced) equally, however. There are some that everybody recognizes, some that a smaller group recognizes and some that only a few will recognize. Let's consider each of them. Unless the restaurant is featuring a particular wine, you tend to get your worst pricing on the wines that everybody knows although that is not always the case. While I rarely call out names, I am going to illustrate with a few. Where I live, there are two Cabernets that seem to be on every restaurant's Reserve L...

We're back in Italy today or more specifically in Campania. It's a scenic region known for the seashore of Naples, Mount Vesuvius, the ancient ruins, and the Amalfi Coast. It also produces some pretty good wine, most of it red. While it is far and away the most famous, Vesuvius is not the only volcano in Campania. In fact, geologists have found 24 of them in the region although most remain bubbling underwater some in the many lakes of the region. What this does from a wine standpoint, of course, is to provide the local grape growers with a rich, quite minerally soil in which to grow those grapes. The natural acidity that the soil imparts to the grapes makes for wonderful pairings with the often tomato-based dishes that the Neapolitans are known for. If there is one part of Campania that is more volcanic than any other, it is undoubtedly Campi Flegrei or the Phelgraean Fields. Slightly more than 10 miles nearly due west of Naples where Campania meets the Gulf of Napoli, the soil...

What is a grape tell? You can't look it up on the internet, at least I don't think you can. Why not? I just made it up. Where did it come from? Have you ever played poker or some other game where you wager based on the cards you hold or something similar? Great players approach every hand the same way. Lesser players have "tells." They might scratch their head when they have a great hand or lean to their side when they are bluffing. They might take a deep breath when they are pretty sure they are making a bad decision. Many grapes have tells as well. No, they don't scratch their heads. That might be a bit challenging for them, but in grapes, they are flavor tells. You pick up a glass of white wine. You swirl it and smell it to get the aroma. You taste it. The one thing you can't get out of your mind is lychee. You can smell it, but even more so, you can taste it. The grape is Gewurtzraminer. Your large glass is filled with red wine. It's you detect a hint ...