The Wine Idea

  Question to noted wine expert: “Ever mistaken Burgundy for Bordeaux?” Expert’s answer: “Not since lunch.” Along with Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy may be the most well-known words in the wine … <span class="entry-title-primary">Ali-Frazier it ain’t</br></span> <span class="entry-subtitle">But the Bordeaux-Burgundy rivalry is one for the ages</span>Read more

From week to week, guests queue up at the Formaggio Kitchen  tasting table to sample a few wines from our shelves, chat about their respective merits and demerits and decide what they … <span class="entry-title-primary">Beyond boo/hurrah</br></span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Is there a better way to talk about wine?</span>Read more

Sauvignon blanc is one of the most popular wine grape varieties in the world. French in origin but widely planted elsewhere, wines made from this varietal display a distinctive profile. It’s … What you can learn from a glass of Sauvignon BlancRead more

It was American essayist-philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson who first suggested that the mentality that rates order, uniformity, and predictability too highly is not to be trusted.  ”A foolish consistency is the … <span class="entry-title-primary">We Prize it in Peanut Butter</span> <span class="entry-subtitle">How important is consistency in wine?</span>Read more

Book Review Shadows in the Vineyard: The True Story of a Plot to Poison the World’s Greatest Wine By Maximillian Potter We know from prison movies that inmates who really ought … Tedium in the Vineyard</br>Read more

I like wine that’s Italian and red. “I shall have a Barolo,” I said. But I had to think twice When they told me the price. Now I favor Barbera instead.  The … When Wine Doesn’t RhymeRead more

We returned to a familiar theme last week and played the game I call Three Bottle Monte at the tasting table in the wine shop where I work.  The bottles and … Not as advertised</br>Read more

Early in his career Robert Mondavi recognized that he could differentiate his California-made wine from those made in Europe by emphasizing the inherently fruity character of the former. In comparative tastings … Dirt is the new fruit</br>Read more

The twentieth may have been the American century, but it was during the eighteenth that we made the transition from an ethnically uniform but marginally viable colony of the British Empire … <span class="entry-title-primary">What Yankee Doodle drank</br></span> <span class="entry-subtitle">Whetting our whistles in a revolutionary time</span>Read more

Andrew Bishop, 45, grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut, toured in a rock band, had a stint in the 1990’s as bar manager at “Boston’s first real wine bar,” Les Zygomates, and … It’s a personal thing.</br>Read more

  Glou-glou. Jaunty French slang for simple, fruity wine that’s so delightful to drink you scarcely give a thought to anything but the pleasure it gives.  I think of glou-glou (pronounce … Lingovino Monday</br>Read more

At large-scale tasting events one very good indicator that I’ve sampled something quite fine is a reluctance to spit the wine out, as is customary.  I used to consider this a … Wine’s Full Measure</br>Read more