This past summer I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days in the town of Jerez in the sun-drenched southwestern Spanish region of Andalusia. Forget the fact that I love sherry, that Andalusian hospitality is supreme (where else in Spain do your receive a free tapa with any beverage (beer or wine) at a bar?!), and the people as warm as the climate in August. The time spent was, beyond the immediate family, in the company of the charming and charismatic Beltran Domecq, the ‘last’ of the wine producing Domecq clan that gave us sublime sherries, forever before being sold and subsequently made redundant at the bodega that they birthed- a modern day tragedy played out so often in today’s quick paced and profit conscious world. Continue reading »

I say American wine, you say…California. And well you should as the Golden State does represent almost nine out of every 10 bottles of wine made in the USA. But if I ask you to think beyond the obvious, most will reflex respond the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington), then likely NY state, and from there some will say Virginia and others likely Texas. The fact of the matter is that all 50 states do indeed make and sell wine commercially in America and many are making better and better wines all the time. Add into the mix that increasingly good bottles are emanating from Canada (the Okanagan Valley and greater Niagara area of Ontario) and Mexico (hello Guadalupe Valley) and it’s easy to understand the excitement surrounding the North American industry. Continue reading »