Rarely do the polarizing forces du jour swirling around wine’s combustible circles, like new world vs. old world, traditional vs. modern, or natural vs. unnatural(?), create radically new standard bearers overnight. Each corner in the world of wine is too steeped in history, nature, method, and skill to be knocked out in a single round. So how […]
Top Three Wines of August: Northern and Southern Italy
This month’s top three wines are neither ordinary nor expensive. They are celebrations of authentic wine making and candidates for greater honor than simply top wines of the month. The wines made by Sicily’s emergent superstar Arianna Occhipinti are recipients of mounting natural winemaking acclaim, sought out by in-the-know fans of deliciously authentic wines. The Schiopetto is […]
White Wines Of Alto Adige
Alto Adige: Part II – The Wines While the inspiring Alto Adige alpine basin landscape is undeniably alluring, confronting a flight of mid-term, bottle-aged white wines from the region’s leading cooperatives is utterly compelling. Single varietal bottlings of Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Gewurztraminer along with blended versions involving even more varietals were unanimously distinctive and serious […]
Alto Adige Wines: Enigmatic and Beautiful Italian Wine Region
Alto Adige: Part I Earlier this month I intersected a caravan of German speaking Italians visiting from their extreme Northern Italian wine producing region, Alto Adige (Ahhl-toe Ahh-deejay). I caught up with them in the midst of a three city US tour showcasing wines from their hometowns in Südtirol (the region is also known as […]
Sottimano Pajore Barbaresco Pairs With Batali Rib-Eye Recipe
It took a recent Barolo and Barbaresco blind tasting and a new season for locally grown, organic, long-neck garlic to finally move me to share my not-so-secret, Mario Batali borrowed, dry rub Rib-Eye recipe. I say it is mine, even though it is not, because I have been consistently scintillating guests over the years deploying […]
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 […]
Happy Birthday WineZag
Today, WineZag cheers for its first birthday and one full year of steady wine writing to celebrate 25 years of wine appreciation. The place that fine wine, human experience, and written perspective intersect has turned into a personally sacred way point along an unending path to deeper appreciation of wine as a lifestyle component and the […]
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.