When Passover Seder comes around annually, I am asked a lot of questions. Not the ones that you’d expect to accompany the ritual (why on this night..) but more, as the resident wine guy, what should we all drink!? Things have changed substantially since the days of Mogendavid and Manischewitz having strangleholds on the wineglass- both Elijah’s and ours. And that’s a good thing! Not that I don’t have an emotional soft spot for my double concord but times have changed some.

There are various strict criteria that wines must pass in order to be certified Kosher and be acceptable at table. While some are ‘easier’, others, depending on how strict your interpretation is, restrict what you can indeed drink and consider yourself to be ‘in line’ with your faith! For a wine to be Kosher it must: Continue reading »

Though I haven’t been counting and ranking the actuality, it seems to me that one of the most frequently asked questions I get is about who, price be damned, is making the best Cabernet Sauvignon in the Northern California wine country. A tall order question indeed, as, firstly, there’s ample wonderful wine being made, secondly, it’s nearly impossible to get the experts to agree and finally, much of it depends on winemaking philosophy and what you like (e.g. does your palate agree with the signature style of one of the difference-making Cabernet producers out there, of which there are many). Inquiring minds want to know, where can you go to begin to learn comparatively?

Well that last question is at least one I can answer. If you have the time, interest, and money, and happen to be in the Napa Valley this Saturday, April 25^th. It’s called ‘Atelier’ and will be held at Acme Fine Wines from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Atelier will feature the ‘who’s who’ (and their wines) of contemporary Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines and their makers featured are mind boggling: Continue reading »

For all the well deserved press that she has received over the past decade plus, Spain is not the entire Iberian Peninsula. Upon enjoying a beautiful bottle of red wine from the Douro the other night, I was reminded of why there’s so much chatter these days about Portugal, the “other Iberia.” While the country may not be basking in the same torridly hot glow that Spain is currently experiencing, something tells me that Portugal’s just a short time away from getting the just due recognition beyond Port and Madeira, her two fortified jewels. Continue reading »

I got an email recently from a friend who asked when I was going to bring back some trivia.

I promised him that one of the upcoming blogs would find me tracking down some more tidbits that I would cull from Gourmet Magazine’s “Good Living” column, a regular feature that is chock full of fun ‘did you know’ like factoids.

So, back by popular demand… did you know that…

Historically Matzo was so popular among the Italian Christians that schismatic Catholic authorities frequently banned Jews from selling it to non-Jews and Christians from eating it altogether. Something to think about with seder upcoming this week! (April 2008)

And in the same Italian Jewish vein, for much of Italian history, eggplant and fennel were considered Jewish rather than pan-Italian delicacies. (April 2008)

In 1919, the average American family had to work 157 hours to buy a three-pound chicken; today it takes only 14 minutes. And the pot to cook that chicken that all American are supposed to have costs… (February 2006) Continue reading »

Of course, the answer to that question, without context, is: it depends. In this case, the well posed question stems around the truth or fallacy of wines being less expensive in Europe than they are here. I was reading an article by Katherine Cole of the Portland Oregonian entitled “Why wine is less expensive in Europe.” After reading her compelling article, my answer would be… depends.

In the article, the author points out several compelling reasons why wine can be less expensive and often is indeed less expensive in wine rich Europe. For one, wine is often, as in Spain, considered food from a taxation standpoint and, as such, not subject to the extreme levies of spirits. It’s not unusual to walk into a tapas bar and be able to order a glass of simple and tasty wine for the same price (or less) as a plate of any tapa, ración or bocadillo. Literally the equal of a buck or so, if not less, at times. Marvelous.
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