Articles

When the village goes dry

by  |  07-08-2019

On July 25th the village of Gratallops ran out of water. A village of 226 people, 23 wineries, three hotels, multiple holiday rentals, and seven restaurants/cafés had neither water to drink, nor to shower with,... more »

Ribera del Duero to shine a light on their whites

by  |  01-08-2019

The Boletín Oficial del Estado (Spanish State Bulletin) isn’t light reading. There are sticky gobs of technical announcements for absolutely all facets of the government but, if one is willing to hone in on the... more »

That chilling the red wine thing

by  |  25-07-2019

If this latest heatwave has shown us anything, it’s that there are a few more bends to go before we see the “shade” at the end of the tunnel which signals that another summer has... more »
Cartoon by Mike Lester: mikelester.com

A guide to what’s good, bad, & questionable in wine titles

by  |  16-07-2019 ~ 7 Comments

Long gone are the days of a bellied, middle-aged white man proclaiming himself a wine expert because well, he likes wine and wants to tell you about what he likes. No, we've reached an age... more »

Sicus, when wine is made in the vineyard

by  |  12-07-2019

Driving forty five minutes covers a lot of ground in the wine world. It affords a 41km view of the entire Côte d’Or in Burgundy. Similarly, it will see you go from the top to... more »

Terra Alta and the finesse of Garnatxa Blanca

by  |  08-07-2019

For the current issue of World of Fine Wine I was given free rein to write about all that is wonderful when it comes to the Garnatxa Blanca (White Grenache) grape in DO Terra Alta.... more »

A book review of “Darjeeling: A History of the World’s Greatest Tea”

by  |  06-07-2019

Unlike when you see a retro laundromat façade and then walk inside to discover a hipster coffee shop with $15 avocado toast, Jeff Koehler’s “Darjeeling: A History of the World’s Greatest Tea” is not an... more »

Tast del Decenni 2019: The DOQ Priorat 2009 vintage

by  |  02-07-2019

In 2009, the heaviest shoe of the Global Financial Crisis had finally fallen. All the maneuvering, consolidating, and bailing of companies and governments truly came to a head for and was deeply affecting European countries,... more »

Searching for sparkling in Georgia

by  |  25-06-2019

In keeping up with the wines of Georgia, this week I’m in Tbilisi, tasting the current vintage. Things are definitively in motion here as while the recent protests have tapered off, a Russian ban on... more »

A new take on Parellada: Celler Credo – Volaina 2018

by  |  20-06-2019

For anyone learning the finer details of wine, you typically memorize that there are three core grapes to Cava: Xarel·lo, Macabeu, and Parellada. The first two abound in individual merits, especially my Carignan-cheat-grape, Xarel·lo. But... more »