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A Napa wine escape from big, dumb and spendy
I awoke sometime around 5 a.m. to the angry sound of rain and my son’s persistent fever yelps. There we were, in a rented Calistoga house with a flu-sickened 18-month old, four days of rain...
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Wined up for Turkey Day: Cotes du Rhone
Riding a tailwind of reputation and chops, Kermit Lynch wants to bring French flavor to Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving table. The Berkeley, Calif.-based wine merchant, a widely respected figure in the...
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Mountain men of Napa wine country
The drive up Spring Mountain seems like a mistake. How could a road so improbably steep and so perilously twisted lead to positive results? Why aren’t the shoulders littered with the wrecked remains...
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NJ direct ship bill: A glass half full for PA wine consumers?
Was anyone else heartened by the news that our New Jersey neighbors may soon receive direct shipments from wineries across the country? If you haven’t heard, Governor Chris Christie this week signed a...
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Philly wine find: Loosen-ing up the inner pig
Cold weather brings with it a host of associations but let’s just get on and admit it: Mostly it leads to the kitchen. The awful wintery mix of cloudy days, skin-chapping wind and late afternoon...
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PLCB gets app-y
While Pennsylvania’s monopolistic wine and spirits system is characterized – or condemned – by many attributes, convenience is rarely counted as one of them. Recent technological changes are aimed at...
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Philly wine find: White side of the Rhône
E. Guigal has long stood as a surefire brand of the Rhône, one of a group of producers (M. Chapoutier, Jaboulet, Delas and others) largely responsible for the solid state of the region’s wines and the...
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Garces to Basque in wine bar recognition
It must be Tuesday: Another Philly restaurant singled out by a national media outlet. This time it’s about wine.Tinto, Jose Garces' food and wine hideaway near Rittenhouse Square, has gotten the nod...
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Philly wine find: Screwed again
Truth be told, I’m more apt to write about a white wine when it’s, oh, 12 or 13 bucks or less. When considering my current subject, a 2008 Villa Maria “Private Bin” Riesling available...
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Wine road trip: A Jersey resort's best…and the rest
Descending the metal spiral stairs into the wine cellar, I figured things had to get better. I needed distraction from the final stretch of our vacation, a stopover at the Grand Cascades Lodge in...
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Philly wine find: May rosé
Those of us who maintain the year-round schedule can’t deny it. By February or March, hefty winter wines leave an imprint. When spring regains control of the massive snooze button in the sky, the...
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Must-have beer for the wine crowd
What I’m about to say is meant as a prop. Beer people are slightly tilted. As in, good crazy. This is front and center because, in my hands, I hold a beer fortified by grapes – Noble Rot...
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White wine for the manly explorer
Just around the corner from reading Lettie Teague’s latest article – about so-called “manly” wines (mostly red) – I purchased a green bottle of Spanish white, a 2010 Rioja Blanco from Bodegas Ondalán....
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It's the time of the season for Riesling
Ah, June. Backyard breezing. Phillies wheezing. Uncork the Riesling.That’s some abominable wordplay but it’s hardly off target during a week that kicks off the Summer of Riesling, an annual happening...
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Philly wine find: High on acid and Chardonnay
This wine has something going for it that can’t be said of the common Chardonnay: A lot. Consider the qualities. Screw top. Expressive nose. California pedigree. Sustainably grown. Minerality....
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A Pennsylvania winery with “Berk-undian” flavor
When asked about the quality of his Berks County wine, the response of Richard Blair, owner of Blair Vineyards, is to the point: “Drink it. Try it.” Blair is a direct kind of guy. Likeable but low...
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Wine: Global thinking, Rhode Island drinking
Recently, I was on vacation in New England with my family and a few bottles. It was a loose flow of days with ample time for Olympics gazing, walks with my wife under dark yawning skies, reading,...
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Garces tradeoff is uncorked, unfulfilled
At the risk of offending some who work in (and promote) the Philly hospitality scene – a few of whom I know – I’ve been vocal with my reservations about Iron Chef and culinary scene maker, Jose...
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Philly wine find: A Malbec value from on high
Don’t read this review. Not yet, at least. First, track a bottle of the 2010 Familia Zuccardi Santa Julia Reserva Malbec to a nearby PLCB store and skedaddle off to buy it.While you’re gone, I...
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Straight outta Ripon: Max value wines for Fall, Thanksgiving
A good California Pinot Noir can be a tricky find, more so at $11 a bottle. Hell, a Pinot at double that price can be hit-or-miss.That’s why I was a wee bit suspect of a...
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