Beer or margarita is the knee-jerk response to alcohol pairing with Mexican and Tex-Mex food. All well and good, but wine can be in the conversation, too. Continue reading “Wine and Mexican food 4-12-2023”
Category: Recent Columns
Wine grapes 11,000 years old 4-5-2023
It is long established that grapevines and wine date back thousands of years. Until recently, the accepted date was 8,000 years ago. New research has pushed that back to 11,000 years. Continue reading “Wine grapes 11,000 years old 4-5-2023”
What is your vinotype? 3-29-2023
What type of wine do you like? If you are unsure, there are many online tests to point you in the right direction. The most popular determines your “vinotype.” Continue reading “What is your vinotype? 3-29-2023”
Wine questions answered #2 3-22-2023
Answers to your pressing wine wine questions. Continue reading “Wine questions answered #2 3-22-2023”
Wine’s love-hate relationship 3-15-2023
Wine has a love-hate relationship to oxygen. Not enough oxygen when it is in the winery and wine can be reductive—engendering volatile sulfur compounds. Burnt match and rotten eggs are common odor descriptors. Too much oxygen and the wine tastes “tired” and eventually turns to vinegar. Continue reading “Wine’s love-hate relationship 3-15-2023”
Wine questions answered 3-8-2023
Answers to whimsical wine questions. Continue reading “Wine questions answered 3-8-2023”
Finally, rain in California wine country 3-1-2023
After suffering desiccating drought for years, California found itself awash in alluvian floods in 2023. The state that produces almost 90 percent of U.S. wine is almost 170 percent ahead of normal precipitation. Continue reading “Finally, rain in California wine country 3-1-2023”
Glass and its alternatives 2-22-2023
Glass wine bottles have enjoyed a long and storied run since they were adopted after advances in glass making in the 1600s. Now, however, glass has competition. Continue reading “Glass and its alternatives 2-22-2023”
What is wine? 2-15-2023
What is wine? For many, that question was answered thousands of years ago. Wine is grape juice after yeast converts its sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Continue reading “What is wine? 2-15-2023”
Champagne’s rise 2-8-2023
The land was sheep country, too far north for grapes. The local wine was mediocre, pawned off to roughhewn wool buyers or consumed by locals as vin de table. Continue reading “Champagne’s rise 2-8-2023”