Drawing up the perfect attack on a classic restaurant wine list creates the same adrenaline level NFL coaches experience prepping for Sunday games. At least it seems that way; it’s both exciting and nerve wracking knowing one or two calls can define a dinner’s outcome. Planning is required. Have we worked with the restaurant’s wine […]
Pleiades XX, Thackrey, & Local Three: Authentic Collision
Some wine is described to be authentic. I have been meaning to build a working definition of authenticity for my own clarification and finally managed to squash a prolonged streak of procrastination after discovering ($25 ****) Sean Thackrey’s Pleiades XX on Atlanta’s Local Three Kitchen & Bar wine list. This adjective that has blossomed into standard wine enthusiast fodder, bandied throughout critical wine […]
Wine Rock Star-Part 1
I just finished reading Dave McIntyre’s recent piece in the Washington Post about ways to enjoy wine more in 2012. He delivers a handful of useful, but ordinary suggestions for etching a couple more garden variety notches into your wine bedpost. Honestly, I was hoping for more. Alas, a missed opportunity to share some geeky […]
2011 Wine Highlights Part 2- Wine Community
When I launched WineZag in 2009, I did it under a founding motto of “wine is a lubricant for human connection that holds no bias.” The essence of my wine appreciation has always transcended the juice, gravitating to the center of human bonding and relationships that are accelerated by shared wine experiences; either during dinner […]
2011 Wine Highlights Part 1: Wine & Restaurants
While the best wine and food might still appear on my table over the next couple of weeks, 2011 is quickly shutting down like newly bottled Bordeaux and I catch myself reminiscing over the year that was in wine and food. These musings must not be mistaken for a quintessential nor ultimate reminiscence of global […]
Clos Rougeard 2007- A Wine List Automatic
Pouring over wine lists before meals is the ultimate public foreplay. In advance of fine dining reverie, the hunt for favorites, values, rarities, ultimates, and classics is my secret little indulgence. It’s a moment of truth that determines the tone of an evening’s meal. I remember the same jittery excitement stepping into Coney Island’s Luna […]
Roagna Paje Barbaresco 2003 and Grindhouse Burgers
Last week I paired a really ugly hamburger with an indisputably pretty wine. The burger was just as delicious as it was ugly. The wine, on the other hand, was as graceful, balanced, and pretty as folks have come to expect from a Luca Roagna […]
Some Old Wine Bottles
95% of wines are consumed within a week of purchase. It’s a fact, but is it vinous genocide? I had a conversation with a notable wine educator the other night who said he preferred young wines and can only recall tasting eight older wines that were worth the wait or more enjoyable to drink older […]
The Wine and Food Culture Divide
I’ll admit to spending more time than it’s probably worth thinking about nuances in wine and food culture. For example, I ponder how obvious it is that most of us Americans act with righteous self confidence buying, ordering, and cooking the foodstuffs and ingredients we prefer. We’ll ask questions freely when shopping or ordering to […]
Value Discovery: 2006 Hecht & Bannier Minervois at Flyte
It’s a rarity, but I found myself in Nashville, TN last week. With business entertainment very much on the agenda, I searched for one solid restaurant with a decent wine list and found myself at Flyte World Dining and Wine drinking ($18 ***1/2) 2006 Hecht & Bannier Minervois. This Languedoc-Roussillon stole my attention, and that’s saying a lot […]
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