No, I am not talking about baseball (something I love) nor hot dogs and apple pie (both of which I love too) but rather Bourbon, specifically the ‘real thing’ coming out of Kentucky. Folks are unaware that, despite what you may think, Bourbon doesn’t have to be made in Bourbon County nor even in the Bluegrass state to carry the moniker of this beloved whiskey.

I was in Louisville a while back and had a great time- visiting friends, doing a great book signing event at Proof on Main in the outstanding and uber chic 21c Museum Hotel, a de rigueur stop at the Louisville Slugger baseball bat factory and museum, gorging on western Kentucky BBQ (you must hit the Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot), and, of course, doing a small stop on the Bourbon trail, something I hadn’t done in years. Continue reading »

I will admit it- I am curiously obsessed with quirky vending machines. The first time I traveled to Tokyo in the early 1990’s, I was amazed by much: amazing people, new customs (and needing to know when and how to bow, etc.), pristine streets, cool fashion (the emerging of the hip clothing on the streets of Shibuya, Harajuku, Daikanyama, Aoyama Tokyo-fashion districts), the rage of pachinko machines, and the street side vending machines selling everything from sodas to beer to odd beverages like the unusually named Pocari Sweat. Never got the courage to get a can of the aforementioned Sweat but enjoyed lots of other libations in these neat machines that were, and still are, omnipresent. Continue reading »

OK, so I live in San Francisco and, in my opinion, we may soon reach a nexus of having too many wine bars and wine bar themed restaurants for the viable population base. This is truer here than in other cities (New York may have far more wine bars but it also has far more people), and I think we may hit the saturation point soon. Let me explain what I mean by this…

We have a plethora of classic wine bars, which is to say places that focus on wine with minimal labor intensive offerings (cheese, salumi, breads, olives, and other foods that don’t require a high labor cost ‘trained chef’ and team). This formula works, is a lot of fun, and provides great ambiance and forums for social interaction. Though they’ve been around for awhile and aren’t per se that new (remember the London Wine Bar (now closed) in the financial district? Hello..), wine bars have been sprouting up like weeds. Continue reading »

We have all been barraged with article after article about wine consumption in China, their unfathomable potential, and China being the apparent savior of the global wine industry’s glut. Don’t get me wrong, I do buy into the future of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) being the most substantial part of global economic growth, of which wine is a small but significant piece. But for those that think it’s really further on than it is… well, you need to be patient. Doing business in China is challenging (the running joke in the wine biz is that any exporting company who tells you they are making money in wine in mainland China is lying) and rumors are indeed rampant that the amount of Château Lafite Rothschild, the leading prestige wine and preferred 1^st growth of China, consumed annually in Shanghai and Beijing supersedes production! Nevertheless, and in spite of problems and hiccups, China and specifically Shanghai remain both alluring and ample in opportunity for wine. Continue reading »

When it dawned on me just how lucky American wine consumers are today. Really.

I am not going to bother to quote you all the statistics and studies which are readily out there if you Google away but I will put it out there: America is currently the most significant consumer wine market in the world. Period. For now (yes, we are all eying China and Asia). But for now… America drinks volumetrically more wine (or depending on the study you read is about to drink more wine) than any country on earth (not per capita but as a nation), and we have been the most profitable wine market for several years. All of this is good for the consumer… and so, you ask, why? Continue reading »

Like you, I have noticed that Americans are demanding bolder flavor and more adventure in their food and in their wines. (in fact I wrote a book about it!)  It’s easy to note that in wine people are gravitating towards wines that are full of flavor- from Malbec and Torrontés in Argentina, to Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand, Carmenère in Chile, Primitivo in Italy and the list goes on and on and on. Outside of wine, you’ve likely seen same- from flavorful grass-fed beef, to brewed and flavorful cocktail infusions, to the ongoing rage in all things spicy. If you haven’t spent much time in cyberspace looking at hot sauce websites and seeing what’s out there, you have surely missed something evocative to the senses. Continue reading »

In the fall of 1987, just after I had passed my MS exam in the UK, a celebratory jaunt to Burgundy followed to keep the good times a’rolling. My good friend and fellow MS, Madeline Triffon, joined me for a few days before she had to blast back to the States. I recall fondly a dinner in Beaune, where upon her requesting the wine list, it was handed to me, and when she ordered the wine, the bottle was presented to me. Despite my repeated plea that she be allowed to accept and taste the wine, the apoplectic chef sommelier couldn’t visualize, much less internalize, that a woman could be in charge of the wine ordering ritual. Continue reading »

When you think of Brazil, you think of many culturally relevant markers- beaches, carnival, churrasco (Brazilian barbecue) and feijoada (the classic rich black bean, pork, and sausage stew), the two ‘national dishes’, and perhaps, as a beverage, cachaca, the powerful sugar cane distillate that is akin to rum and goes down so easy (especially in a caipirinha). What you likely don’t consider is their wine industry which, albeit largely unrecognized outside of Brazil, is healthy and thriving. Continue reading »

Though Passover and seders are now mere memories (hopefully not still with you if you had to survive through bad wine and ’sinker’ matzoh balls), I nevertheless wanted to share with you some thoughts that were passed to me by my good friend Dan Goldfield of Dutton-Goldfield winery in Sonoma. Good thinking as you prepare for next year! Here you go!

Wine Thoughts for Passover: Continue reading »

When teaching about wine and food, I often use chicken as a vehicle to drill down the priorities of understanding food for wine pairing. The simple truth is that chicken is a relatively blank canvas to work from, and so many decisions that will help make the wine choice for you have so little to do with the bird itself. A dear retail friend of mine says his customary reply when queried about which wine would go best with chicken is to simply wave his arm and say something to the effect of “take your pick… they all do.” And he’s right… to a point. Continue reading »