From recommended bottles and fall events in Sonoma to urban wine classes, here’s a few wine tips to start the fall right. Watch Virginia Miller’s Appetite column for restaurants making some of Napa’s best cocktails and more Wine Country dining reviews. Urban Wine SF WINE CENTER, 757 Bryant St. between 5th & 6th Sts., 415-655-7300, www.sfwinecenter.com An in-house wine club,… Read more →
Photos & article by Andi Berlin The 17th annual Grape to Glass at stately Richard’s Grove celebrates the wines of the Russian River Valley, a cool atmosphere known for producing rich chardonnays and bright pinot noirs. More than 75 wineries set up booths in the toasty afternoon heat, accompanied by a host of farmers market vendors and local restaurants offering… Read more →
In my recent travels in Portland I trekked to three distilleries within city limits, two established, one brand new. My top priorities were Clear Creek and House Spirits which have been the best I’ve tasted historically of what is coming out of Oregon. I also visited brand new Bull Run Distillery near Clear Creek, boasting a retro tasting room lined… Read more →
Spring imparts new life and lush green after Winter rains. It also ushers in a glut of Spring cocktail menus emphasizing the best produce of the season and new trends. Bottled Cocktail Line-up Bottled cocktails are sprouting up everywhere, including just-opened (on April 12), 1950’s era speakeasy, Local Edition, from the Bourbon & Branch crew. There is no carbonation here,… Read more →
My first Pebble Beach Food & Wine this April 12-15, 2012. Despite chilly breezes post-rainfall and those outrageously high ticket prices ($500 is a cheap dinner ticket), it was a bustling, fun-filled weekend of food and far more wine, much of it high quality, celebrity chefs, after (and after-after) parties, copious amounts of caviar, champagne and white Burgundy sipped overlooking… Read more →
Call it dessert wine if you will, icewine (eiswein in German) is definitely sweet. But winemakers prefer to call it “rich and concentrated”, an apt icewine description, which, when produced well, retains enough acidity to keep it from being cloying. Icewine’s intensity comes from frozen grapes, allowing greater flavor concentration. Unlike in Sauternes, Bordeaux, icewine is not sweet from botrytis… Read more →
Edible Adventures in the city of BORDEAUX Photos & article by Virginia Miller A week loaded with fatty duck, foie gras, canneles, and, of course, wine… such was my time in Bordeaux (see last issue on Bordeaux winemakers). Try tasting numerous wines from morning till night in weather just shy of 90 degrees. Though I was craving a good cocktail… Read more →
The Face of Bordeaux Photos & article by Virginia Miller Watch out: Bordeaux will surprise you. Many wine industry friends and sommeliers I talk to think of Bordeaux wines as pricey, out of reach, inaccessible…. or as some of the best in the world. Visiting numerous winemakers throughout the region during their recent harvest, I was surprised by the number… Read more →
We seek wine recommends the year ’round, but at no time more so than the holidays. Here’s some sipping assistance for ringing in the new year (note: key shops like K&L Wine Merchants, Jug Shop, Arlequin, Bi-Rite, or SF Wine Trading Co., may stock these bottles or can likely order them for you). Going Bubbly Nothing says New Year’s Eve… Read more →
In my many jaunts to Wine Country, I never suffer for options. Even after a decade, I am ever experiencing new delights. In addition to recent weekends (Calistoga to family-run wineries), here’s a few more bite-sized fall delights that will be equally pleasing this winter. Coffee goodness … Read more →