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 reading a recent piece by my good friend Dan Berger regarding terroir in Sauvignon Blanc, I found myself nodding my head in affirmation regarding his comments about this varietal being a paramount vehicle for demonstrating the concept of ’sense of place’ (aka terroir). In the article Berger: Sauvignon blancs best at reflecting “terroir”, his stated feeling is that no other grape does this as well. Though I am in agreement that white wines are much better mirrors of terroir than reds, I have to take slight exception with Sauvignon Blanc as being the singularly best conduit. Continue reading »

Is good for your beer, but not for your white wine. I was reminded of this when dining out the other night and ordering a bottle of Torrontés to go with our dinner. The bottle was brought quickly to the table but it was sooooo cold (how cold was it?). It was so cold that as the wine was poured into the glass, it fogged up with condensation and actually bit my tongue with its frosty bite. Then there were the stalactites on the bottle that should have been a clue (just kidding). Continue reading »

Or perhaps as confusing, when is a Syrah not a Shiraz? Great query. Perhaps as great as: when is a Pinot Gris not a Pinot Grigio or when is a Sauvignon Blanc not a Fume Blanc. Confused? You’re not alone.

Grapes that have multiple monikers are perplexing. Perplexing not so much in their names but in what those names actually translate to in the bottle. All are pairs of synonyms, if you will, in wine speak. As actual grapes, there is zero difference between any of those pairs: Syrah and Shiraz, same thing (grape). Ditto for Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc and Fume Blanc. And the reasons for the name differences have historically much to do with the physical origins of said grapes or a style. Shiraz is the Anglo-Australian name, if you will, of Syrah, which is French, while Pinot Gris is the French name of the same grape which is Pinot Grigio in Italian.  Robert Mondavi coined the term Fume Blanc in the late 1960’s to distinguish his dry style of Sauvignon against the sweeter versions (mostly blended out) that had existed in California prior. But over time and with wine becoming more popular, wouldn’t it be nice if we could extrapolate style and wine expectations from the names and confuse people less. Let me explain… Continue reading »

For lovers of his weekly NY Times Wednesday Food section column, The Minimalist, the article that follows is likely not new. For those of you who are merely fans of his many inspired books including “How to Cook Everything” and “Food Matters”, his weekly column is very practical and invigorating must read (at least for me).

As a packrat, I clip and save a lot, and file what I clip by season and topic. No, I am not really as organized as both you (and I) would like to think, but I would otherwise not know where to find some items I want as perpetual references. And Mark’s stuff often ends up in those keeper files.

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The other night over a glass of crisp and zippy Sauvignon Blanc, a friend asked me what he should try next. He’s a HUGE fan of the varietal and has seemingly exhausted most of the usual suspects - California’s Sonoma, South Central Coast and Napa Valley appellations, New Zealand’s Marlborough and Hawkes Bay, Chile’s Casablanca and Curicó and, of course, France’s celebrated Loire Valley appellations of Sancerre, Pouilly Fume and Menetou Salon and Bordeaux’s Graves and Entre deux Mers. He is a true Sauvignon Blanc fan of the highest order.

In exploring his “SB holes”, I found a few missing places that I thought he should explore: Austria and environs east (Bulgaria, Slovenia and Moldova), Israel (especially in the Golan Heights) and finally, South Africa whose Sauvignon Blanc exploits are well documented over the past decade and getting better all the time. In his case, South Africa made extra special sense since his preferred style is New Zealand and those from South Africa most closely resemble their counterparts in kiwi land. While there are no “go to” regions that are as distinctively knee-jerk to South Africa, as Marlborough is to New Zealand, there are nevertheless several areas worth his exploration. And yours… Continue reading »

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 »

When most people are asked about Sacramento, California’s capital, they think of governing branches and quite possible our celebrated Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Many know that “theGovernator” enjoys fine things including great cigars, exceptional food and a deep love of wine. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to travel far to Napa or Sonoma to explore one of the state’s best-kept secrets: the historically significant and romantically unspoiled Amador County.

Just south and west of Sacramento, Amador County sits on the outskirts of the Gold Country and the Sierra Nevada Mountains where the well documented Gold Rush in 1849 brought great interest and wealth to northern California. Many of the fortune-seekers who flocked to the Sierra foothills in the 1850s were European immigrants who planted extensive vineyards upon their arrival. After the mines ran dry, many of these wine-loving prospectors turned their focus to the craft. By the 1890s, there were over 100 wineries in the foothill region, more than in Napa and Sonoma counties together at the time! Trouble came to the California wine industry in it’s entirety in the form of America’s Prohibition, and Amador County was hit hard. It took Amador a long time to bounce back and wasn’t until the 1970’s that wine was once again flowing from this region in any significant quantity. Continue reading »