Ribelle in Brookline has figured out what other Boston restaurants have not; deliver the quintessential dining experience embodying a Bostonian “sense of place”. Phraseology often finding its way into wine conversations, “sense of place” gives tasters insights and connections to region, weather, vineyard, culture, and overall terroir that begat their beverage. For restaurants, farm-to-table and […]
Choosing a Restaurant Wine List Over Food
As the eight of us maneuvered on a street corner to hail two NYC yellow cabs, my son asked me why we were traveling from 66th and Central Park West to Williamsburg, Brooklyn for dinner. “Aren’t there any nice restaurants in Manhattan?” It was a fair question. I explained I had booked a table for […]
Crisis in Wine Enthusiasm Averted
It has been quite some time, four weeks to be exact, since I have written here about wine. That is the longest hiatus since WineZag launched in 2009. Extended and distant third world travel, ailing elderly family, and our children’s and their friends’ return home from university have shaped the silence. More to the point, the confluence […]
Monday Morning Holiday Wine Quarterback
If you were one of many anxious Thanksgiving dinner hosts wading through the thousands of social media posts, hundreds of retail ads, and scores of articles or blogposts about the right wines to pair with Thanksgiving dinner, how did that work out for you? Did you get props for ultimate pairings? Was the research and […]
Ultimate Thanksgiving Wine Pairing Deconstruction Guide
There are a dozen reasons to avoid obsession and angst pairing wines with your Thanksgiving feast. The problem begins with a cornucopia of flavors and tastes from sweet to bitter to savory, spicy, and salty that roll from the holiday kitchen. While thousands of different wines will be appropriate for millions of tables and gatherings, […]
So You Want To Be (with) A Sommelier Like Levi Dalton
The ability to relish bottles with anything from deep mastery to rookie wine knowledge lends an egalitarian charm to wine appreciation. Nevertheless, when you learn a bunch about wine you innately understand there is always so much more to know about it. Infinite opportunities for discovery drive nagging self doubt and a maniacal pursuit of knowledge that […]
Not Your Everyday Wines
It was another week of wine discovery and while these were not everyday wines for most, they are more frequent indulgences for some lucky others. With wine discovery comes new and interesting friends, and this week did not disappoint. Here is a quick round up that spans Friuli, Austin, Etna, Prosecco Land, Saumur, and Sicily. […]
Old Major Erupts as Denver Culinary Fourteener
Rocky Mountain views, not food and wine, were my stalwart moments of inspiration and calm during nine years of heavy business travel to Denver. Any remarkable dining here always tracked towards healthy or comfortable, nothing too fancy nor too smart. Chefs and sommeliers seemed to carefully avoid even the slightest nod to over reaching, potentially […]
Airline Food and Wine Cook Off
Delta has just announced “The Cabin Pressure Cook Off: The Search for the Next Delta Chef”. That’s interesting to people like me who climb into at least a couple of Delta jets every week. One benefit of frequently flying between New England and my office in Atlanta is the “first class upgrade”. Along with wider seats, more leg […]
Permission to Drink Beautiful Aged Wines
A multitude of milestone celebrations produced a legion of guiltless permissions to pop corks on aged wines last month. Graduations, birthdays, and the annual Troquet summer cellar clearance converged. Birth year wines of graduating children, old bottles carried to my home by giddy parents on the precipices of new empty-nest lifestyles, Troquet wines on sale, and […]
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