Even in the world of organic wines, there is a spectrum. You can have many spirited conversations (pun intended) about how "pure" pure can be, and now natural a wine might be. How do you determine if the sulfites in wine are causing headaches?
As a wine auctioneer, I've been privileged to travel across the country selling some of the worlds' bests wine for huge amounts of money. But here are my quick tips about enjoying wine at affordable prices!
Similar to a bag of Doritos, "slut wines" have some variety, striking packaging to contemplate, moderate satisfaction, and an obscure next-day lack of fulfillment. There's a place for a simple, sugary red, but there's room for so much more.
Riesling is an incredibly versatile white grape, capable of being produced in virtually every form wine can take -- from sparkling and very dry, to off-dry and very sweet.
Avoid a power hour for wines. You can use crackers or drink water to neutralize your palate between wines. If you get tired of smelling wines, have some coffee grounds on hand to refresh your nose.
As the Snooth People's Voice Wine Awards enter their fifth week, we've discovered that a few of these luxury Chardonnays are quite popular with wine lovers. The current front runners are an interesting but delicious group.
Riesling is one of the world's most misunderstood and most versatile grapes, but it is often the sommelier's favorite grape because it's so flexible with food and can act as a parachute for food-pairings.
One could argue that we Americans have been a little slow on the Riesling uptake because of our national delusion that Riesling is necessarily sweet -- and therefore not good for food.
Red wine, it seems, has stolen all the thunder from its poor white counterpart. You never hear people raving about how they can't wait to pop open a big, brawny bottle of sauvignon blanc.
Whether you're attending an inaugural ball in D.C. or simply catching the celebration on TV, these diverse yet inspired selections will help you toast this pivotal moment in history in style.
Take a small sip of your wine, swish it around, and pretend to spit it out in your cup. Do not actually spit it out. You will not be able to make it through an entire evening with oenophiles otherwise.
However, if you want a marvelous bottle of Sauvignon Blanc that will not remind you of an incontinent feline, look for Santa Rita Sauv Blanc. It has aromas and flavors of tropical fruit.
Zinfandel, with its flavors of chocolate-covered black cherries and blackberry jam, is a real crowd-pleaser and it's a natural with spicy-sweet foods like barbecued ribs in raspberry-chipotle sauce.
Think of Viognier's flavors as the love child of Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat (so what if it was a threesome?) It makes a marvelous aperitif wine to sip on its own, and it kicks butt with spicy Asian food.
Lately here has been a great deal of bitching and moaning about restaurant waitstaff and wine service. Having been on both ends of the wine bottle, I can tell you that the feeling is often mutual.