I apologize for the long delay since my last blog posting but I have been on the road for a spat and much of it in South America doing research for my next book, an essential guide to South American wines. The first of two trips this year took me to Argentina’s Mendoza and multiple areas in Chile. There was so much to be excited about on both sides of the Andes that it is difficult to single out one sub-region or a singular varietal. What was perhaps most compelling to me as I went through my reams of notes was the sheer wealth of female winemaking talent that I encountered in Chile.

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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 »

I spent last week in Seoul, South Korea being the “American judge” at the finals of the 7th annual Korea Wine Challenge…which you’d know if you’ve been following my Tweets and Facebook page updates. This international wine competition is becoming more and more serious and important with each passing year. It is encompassing new and interesting wines that reflect the interest of many exporting countries to increase their offerings in this dynamic and expanding north Asian wine market. Continue reading »

The New Year always starts out with folks wanting to make prognostications as to what the forthcoming twelve months will bring. Financial people look at indicators from the opening day on Wall Street (up 150’ish for those who don’t recall) to consumer confidence numbers. Retailers take physical and emotional inventory of the ‘OND’ (October-November-December) and especially the holiday ‘D’ numbers while restaurateurs intuitively get a hit from the level of consumer happiness they detect in the dining room, the number of private parties booked at holiday and what they were spending, and bullishly anticipate what the first few weeks of the year will bring. Continue reading »

It dawned on me as I was writing this blog that it’s been, in essence, a full year since we launched this site (and with it this blog) and here I am again… back in Korea and judging the now 5th Annual Korea Wine Challenge. It’s been a crazy year and it’s amazing what a difference twelve months can make… not the least of which is that the dollar has appreciated significantly against the Korean won (980’ish to the dollar last year and over 1500 per dollar this year… yikes!). New times, and (this year) new wines… Continue reading »

Over the past few weeks I have been asked a lot about what to expect this year in terms of countries and regions who are poised to capitalize, if at all, in the current economic environment. A great but loaded question.

There are many factors which contribute to what is selling and what isn’t. A country may be ‘up’ volumetrically but ‘down’ in value. For example, if people are buying more French wine at lower prices (Alsace, Loire Valley, Languedoc) but are eschewing their normal desire to drink classified Bordeaux or Cru Burgundy, well, the cases could, in theory, climb while the actual dollars sag. This has been a case in point of the Australian market in the USA and England over the past couple of years that the Australians are keenly aware of, and in the process of aggressively addressing. A recent conversation had over dinner with some key head honchos for ‘Brand Australia’ (Wines of Australia) clearly pointed out this dynamic and addressed a few of the table’s questions on how they plan to respond. But it’s unfair to pick on the Aussies as they are certainly not alone in such a conundrum. So who is benefiting?

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As summer furthers itself along, I find myself increasingly doing two things I love: al fresco dining- celebrating the summer’s bounty, and watching lots of baseball as a fan (and as a ‘arm chair’ manager). Both provide great enjoyment, some creative planning and, when well executed, are the source of both pride and pleasure.

Indeed over the past weekend , cooking in the heat of an Alamo (California) summer afternoon, a friend and I were discussing the merits and importance of baseball leadoff hitters whose job of getting on base (with regularity) and setting the stage for their fellow hitters is a crucial role. A team’s chances of winning are greatly improved if you have a leadoff hitter that executes consistent hits. And how does this relate to wine and al fresco dining you ask?

Quite simple. As you set up outside, prepare your grill/bbq/smoker (or whatever heat source you intend to utilize) and plan your lazy afternoon of eating and drinking, you need to have the right ‘leadoff’- wine… and, I would add, foods. The recipes for me are pretty consistent- prosciutto and melon, grilled asparagus, heirloom tomatoes with olive oil and basil and plates of oysters on the half shell with a ‘choix’ of mignonette sauce or juicy and squeezable meyer lemon wedges. So, who do you ‘bring to the plate’ to face such a dizzying array of timely fare? Continue reading »