Hey, I just found a site listing the Top 100 Wine Blogs and I am number 92! Hell yeah! #1-91, what’s that you feel? It’s me, comin’ to getcha! Lest you think these rankings are dubious, here is the skinny: Wine blog ratings are standardized composite logarithmic scores based on multiple relative link popularity rankings [More]

It is drinking BEAUTIFULLY after being open for a day. They corked it at the restaurant and put it in a plastic grocery bag and I walked it home. Took it out of the fridge and uncorked it. Waited a half hour for it to warm up a bit. Don’t drink great whites straight out [More]

I was eating at a Thai place in my area, a basic noodle and curry joint. I peep the wine list and they have some crazy shit! How crazy? How about two vintages of Mouton-Rothschild! A D’Yquem! How you like that with your Pad Thai? I settled on a gem with a very reasonable markup: [More]

I have to admit to neglecting dessert wines in this blog and in my cellar. Today I picked up a couple of half bottles of 1998 Baumard Quarts de Chaume. Next to Riesling, there is no white grape more incredible than Chenin Blanc. From bone-crushingly dry to intensly sweet and concentrated wines, Chenin Blanc from [More]

I have been making the lightest, fluffiest, best damn pancakes in the world. (Click on the title of this post for a link to the recipe.) Every time I pour real maple syrup over them I think of a Rutherglen Tokay or Muscat. Selling these wines is always fun, especially after tasting them. I always [More]

I was speaking with the charming owner at one of my favorite wine shops about writing wine descriptors. This all started when I poured a 2004 Dutton-Goldfield Pinot Noir (RRV), and just told her, “This wine makes me happy.” It did, and it still does. It’s a Pinot Noir with this incredible kind of star-anise/nutmeg [More]

I have come across so many cringe-worthy words and phrases to describe wine, but this one really irked me. Describing the 2005 Winemaker’s Collection Episode One-Michel Rolland*, a wine critic called it “super-endowed“. UGH. What is this, the John Holmes of the Medoc? *Yes, this is the name of the wine. Oh, and I also [More]

Picpoul! Picpoul! Picpoul! I love saying the name of this grape! The H. Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet is in my Hall of Fame for French whites with searing acidity that are under 10 bucks. It’s from the Coteaux du Languedoc AOC. Fooling around on Google, I found out that Picpoul vineyards overlook oyster and mussel [More]