Taking the world one wine at a time.
What is Moscato? Moscato is a sweet dessert-style white wine, typically lower in alcohol, and usually lightly sparkling. It’s a taste that Millennials seem to be digging big-style (but we’ll get to that in a minute)! Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (to give Moscato its full name) is part of the Muscat family of grapes. There are a bunch of different types of Muscat, with varying tastes, and hues of color. It can be found…
Read More
#9 Wine Professionals I’ve met a bunch of wine industry professionals from all over the world, and contrary to the stereotype that they are sometimes given, they are always gracious, interesting, just generally fun to talk to, and show no air of superiority. However you do need to get a firm understanding of the term “wine professional”. A wine professional is someone who has taken the firm decision in their mind that wine (in one…
Read MoreIn case you ever wanted to know how to open a bottle of wine like a Sommelier…here you go….
Read More
Everyone has their own idea of what they deem a “good wine list” to be, but here’s what I look for… Diversity A decent wine list should have representation from the majority of the worlds major wine producing regions. Fair enough, a French restaurant isn’t expected to carry a huge Chilean selection, if any at all; but they should at least consider a few wines from outside of France. The main place where I…
Read More
#5 Poor Glassware Anyone who knows me knows that I remain very down-to-earth when it comes to wine. With that being said, if I’m out at a restaurant (normally the inexpensive kind); and I see they are using some kind of crappy generic Costco-style wine glasses, I’m going to forego the wine and stick with beer. I don’t for one second believe a restaurant should carry a different wine glass for every single style of…
Read More
#10 Poor Lighting What could be viewed as a seemingly minor point, but I personally like to be able to appreciate the color of a wine before tasting it! The color of a wine can give away a lot of clues to its age, possible grape, and other keys elements such as fining or filtration. If the room is too dark, you are left, well, left in the dark as to all these elements!…
Read More
Gallo’s Growing Barefoot Brand Is No. 1 Sutter Home is No. 2, while total domestic retail wine sales increased 7% in June. E. & J. Gallo Winery’s fast-growing Barefoot brand remained No. 1 in retail sales for the 52 weeks ending June 13, with $255 million in sales. With Carlo Rossi ranking seventh in sales and Gallo Family Vineyards ninth, the Gallo company owns three of the top 10 brands. Two other Gallo…
Read More
I’ve always been of the opinion (and maybe I’m in the minority on this one), but when tasting in a group, it’s best to say very little about what you taste as it relates to your overall opinion of a wine. To be totally brutally, I actually have very little respect for other people’s opinions. How arrogant does that sound!?!? I can of course see how you would think that is quite an egotistical statement,…
Read More