2011 Wine Highlights Part 2- Wine Community

Tweet When I launched WineZag in 2009, I did it under a founding motto of “wine is a lubricant for human connection that holds no bias.”  The essence of my wine appreciation has always transcended the juice, gravitating to the center of human bonding and relationships that are accelerated by shared wine experiences; either during [...]

2011 Wine Highlights Part 1: Wine & Restaurants

Tweet While the best wine and food might still appear on my table over the next couple of weeks, 2011 is quickly shutting down like newly bottled Bordeaux and I catch myself reminiscing over the year that was in wine and food. These musings must not be mistaken for a quintessential nor ultimate reminiscence of [...]

Palate Press Uncorks Swartland Revolution

Tweet Earlier this summer (winter in South Africa’s Swartland wine growing subregion) I had the chance to mix it up with the drivers of the Swartland Revolution; the winemakers.  Ever since I began to comprehend the unusually high authenticity and quality levels of the upstart region’s wines, I started sharing information about individual pieces of [...]

Discovering 2008 Schiopetto Friulano

Tweet There would not be any reason to look beyond the (**** $29) 2008 Schiopetto Friulano that sat on Woodfire Grill’s wine list. I had finally made it to Kevin Gillespie’s (master of flavor intensity and popularized on the “Top Chef” TV show) Atlanta restaurant and all I could think about was getting my nose deep into a [...]

Wine Knowledge and Australia

Tweet I just received an interesting email from the Wine Australia representative I met at the Wine Bloggers Conference last month. Antonia Muir is memorable because, among other things, she gave me a very cool grey promotional t-shirt with only one line across the chest proclaiming “Everyone Has A Story.” While I am happy to [...]

Some Old Wine Bottles

Tweet 95% of wines are consumed within a week of purchase.  It’s a fact, but is it vinous genocide? I had a conversation with a notable wine educator the other night who said he preferred young wines and can only recall tasting eight older wines that were worth the wait or more enjoyable to drink [...]

Top Three Wines of July: Swartland, Minervois, Santa Barbara

Tweet This month’s top wine wrap up spans three continents including Africa, Europe, and North America.  These are all remarkably compelling wines pushing farming and élevage to the edge of their regions’ traditional boundaries.  While they are all urgently recommended, securing a bottle or two of Testalonga El Bandito or A Tribute to Grace will require intense investigation [...]

Value Discovery: 2006 Hecht & Bannier Minervois at Flyte

Tweet It’s a rarity, but I found myself in Nashville, TN last week.  With business entertainment very much on the agenda, I searched for one solid restaurant with a decent wine list and found myself at Flyte World Dining and Wine drinking ($18 ***1/2) 2006 Hecht & Bannier Minervois.  This Languedoc-Roussillon stole my attention, and that’s saying a [...]

A Tribute To Grace Tops Wine Blogger Conference Wines

Tweet On a weekend in Charlottesville, VA with scores of  domestic and international wine pouring sponsors, ballroom wine fests, fleets of buses covering area wineries, half a dozen restaurant wine lists, and countless treasured bottles transported by wine bloggers from their personal cellars, I had the prettiest and most compelling wine poured for me by [...]

Eric Asimov Sorts Out Wine Enthusiasm and Journalism

Tweet An ever present cloud of self doubt began lifting only ten minutes into Eric Asimov’s 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference keynote talk on responsible journalism, democratization of wine, and differences in generational paths to wine knowledge and appreciation.  I breathed easier as he weaved in and out of these centerpiece issues, connecting and comparing his personal [...]

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