A friend of mine that sells wine in Massachusetts has told me more than once he admires my openness and flexibility for enjoying varied styles of wine. Fresh, aged, brooding, bright, acidic, chewy, earthy, fruity, dense, leesy, steel, wood, white, red, rosé, brett, sparkling…no matter. He’s right; with the caveats of passable vintage conditions, good […]
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. […]
Collio Red Wine
White, not red, is the forgivable reflex for wine lovers contemplating Friuli-Venezia Giulia’s Collio and Carso DOCs. Could a Collio red wine command attention? With the likes of Gravner, Radikon, Keber, Venica & Venica, Zidarich, Jermann, and more making global benchmark white, yellow, and orange wines in steels, woods, and amphoras from indigenous Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, […]
Northeast Italy Wine and Food Trip
Next week WineZag (me) hits the roads of Northeast Italy’s wine provinces. What else should an American father do when his Copenhagen-based-twenty-one-year-old son suggests joining up for some Italian wine and food immersion? Faced with a shrinking window for these father/son adventures at a stage of life that everyone warned comes too quickly, you count your […]
Alessio Planeta, Sicily, and Frappato
Alessio Planeta is amiable, direct, and very Sicilian. That’s all immediately apparent. As his story unfolds, he bares an even more adventurous lining. He is one of Planeta Wines‘ family shepherds; opening wineries and tending vineyards like explorers criss-crossing Sicily’s southern slice of the Italian peninsula. Forget the easier approach of vineyard and fruit contracts […]
Cos Frappato 2010 Delivers Sicilian Style
What’s not to like about Sicily’s frappato grape? Bright cherry and red berry fruit, silky juice, light body, excellent acidity, and great consumer value. Earlier this year I was knocked out by the frappatos and nero d’Avolas from Arianna Occhipinti, realizing how unadorned (maybe a good alternative to the overused “natural” marketing spin?) winemaking can turn […]
Malvasia Sparkles in Emilia
My ultimate 2009 new wine discovery was a 2006 Malvasia delle Lipari, made by Hauner, on a volcanic island off of Sicily. I became interested in the the grape, which is actually a group of grape varieties, mostly white but also red, that can be used to produce unimaginably delicious late harvest desert wine, dry […]
One Enthusiast’s View on Wine as an Investment Vehicle
I always buy wine with an intention to drink it….someday. For me, enjoying wine requires popped corks. Unlike paintings, sculpture, or antiques that can be enjoyed without harming value appreciation or resale opportunities, wine is a consumable whose value remains elusive until it swirls in a glass under nose, eliminating any possibility for future valuation. […]
Cab Franc and Falanghina With Roots
I can only tolerate an hour, or so, of tasting through large portfolios at crowded trade events. With an air of desperation, I scurry to discover a new wine or two representing a commensurate quality and value reward for immersing in this tasting format’s inherent nest of inconvenience. My schedule had me in Boston simultaneous with the Loire Valley Wine Bureau tasting at the Taj […]
Antinori in 60 Minutes
There are better and harder to find Chianti and sangiovese in the market, but a wine this good in most years from a large program like the Antinori’s is my kind of “go to” wine.