Third in a 4-part series How to make great wine despite astringent tannins If a wine has strong tannins, you cellar it until it becomes drinkable, right? That’s one step, but there is quite a lot more to getting a good wine from grapes with very strong tannins. Sicily’s Nero d’Avola is the grape I’ve […]
Travels
When I travel, I drink wine. In fact, I usually organize my travels around learning about it because wine isn't a beverage, it's a culture.
Umbrian good karma: rebirth of Sagrantino
First of a 4-part series Montefalco is a relatively new Umbrian magnet for winelovers, thanks in no small part to its intriguing contrasts. Start with the town itself, all hardness cushioned by softness: built on and surrounded by pink-tinged monastic era stone, perched above green rolling hillsides. Shop after shop boasts foods for grandmothers’ recipes and […]
Chateauneuf, organically
Note: Jacqueline André is presenting a rare vertical tasting of her wines Thursday evening 23 March at Cave SA in Gland. Grape harvests are always a joy: for the grower who can finally begin to relax after seeing the babies grow into mature adults, for grape pickers if the vineyard is one that takes real pride […]
Travels in Sardinia: a tourist’s tips
Where is this place? Personally, and I blush to say it, a year ago I was sure only that Sardinia was an island, part of Italy, somewhere near Sicily. Obviously, I have never sailed in the Mediterranean. When I was invited on an educational trip to learn about Cannonau wines, I dashed to Google Maps. I then […]
Among the vines: travels in Sardinia
Part 1 of 3: wine as a window to the soul of Sardinia A recipe for Sardinian serendipity: rest your body on a cozy stone wall as the sun dips low, sip a 2003 wine made from 140-year-old vines old set snugly in a high and rugged landscape where you had to pull up your collar that windy October […]