WINE

It’s been a year since the “big” Christchurch earthquake that we all heard about in the US but Christchurch has actually suffered from over 10,000 earthquakes since September 4, 2010 when the first 7.1 quake hit. Then on February 22, 2011, the horrific and shallow 6.3 quake hit in the middle of the day.  But that wasn't the end of it.  There were 191 earthquakes that day alone (yes, 191).  So many buildings collapsed and sadly so many lost their homes and many lost their lives. And, just when everyone started to settle back in and take a deep breath, another 6.0 earthquake hit just a few months ago on December 23, 2011, during the holidays. So many people have been affected, both physically and emotionally.  However, this has not dampened the spirit of the people.  With the continual earthquakes, rebuilding has been very challenging.  But, those who have been more fortunate and not lost as much have made continual efforts to help their community and friends. One story I had been told when I was in Christchurch last year, just two weeks after the February earthquake, was about a friend of the wine community.  On the day of the earthquake, a local woman whose husband is a winemaker in Waipara, was walking in town and doing her normal shopping when the earthquake hit.  An overhang fell on her and she was paralyzed. As cliche as it sounds, this could have happened to anyone and unfortunately, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now a year later, while she is back home, her life and her family's life has changed and she requires constant care, needs her home retro-fitted and requires pain management, all rather costly.
03 April, 2012

Sitting down to a flight of wines from Burgundy is always a luxury.  But, to taste through two vertical line-ups from two historic producers from...

22 March, 2012
The Tre Bicchieri World Tour came to San Francisco to showcase the 2012 Tre Bicchieri winners, the top-rated Italian wines of the past year.  Organized by Gambero Rosso, which began in 1986, more than 20,000 wines were tasted by the panels, who awarded one, two, or three "Bicchieri" (or "glasses") to wines of exceptional character and quality.  This year every style of Italian wine and every region was represented among the 375 that received the highest rating of Tre Bicchieri (three glasses). As I typically organize events of this kind, I rarely have the opportunity to spend the entire afternoon tasting and learning and not running around keeping everything organized.  Walking into a room with more than 130 producers (and 300+ wines) can be rather overwhelming.  Where do you start?  Should you taste by varietal?  by region?  all whites and then reds?  By the time you figure out how you are going to approach the tasting, you have lost valuable tasting time.  Luckily, I had the great pleasure to taste the wines alongside Master Sommelier Andrea Immer Robinson, wine educator and author of books such as Great Wine Made Simple. Andrea recommends jumping back and forth between varietals, styles and regions so that your palate doesn't get fatigued quickly.  With her guidance, we tasted through more than half the tasting in just over two hours.
21 February, 2012
Oh how I love Pinot Noir!  With descriptors that range from black and/or red cherry, raspberry, strawberry and currant to mushroom, earth, forest, smoke, incense and spice, Pinot Noir shines when paired with food.  At the end of January, the 3rd Annual Southern California Pinot Days took place at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica.  With close to 100 producers, there were Pinots from Central Coast, Northern California, Oregon and Burgundy to taste.  With only a couple hours to taste, here are just a few of my favorites:
30 January, 2012
Mention the words Barbera, Barolo and Barbaresco and you already have my focus. But, add White Truffles and you have my full and undivided attention. And such was the case at the recent White Truffle Piemontese Evening to celebrate Valentino’s 40th Anniversary and featuring wines from Beni di Batasiolo.
10 December, 2011
Located in the Northeast of Italy is the Veneto Region, famous for the canals of Venice, the architecture of Palladio and the home of Romeo and Juliet. Comprised of seven provinces, five of them produce wine: Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso and Venice. The Veneto Region is also responsible for producing 20% of all Italian D.O.C. wines. In fact, there are a total of 25 D.O.C. wines and 11 D.O.C.G. wines from within the Veneto region.

In the very eastern part of Venice, near Treviso, is the area of Lison-Pramaggiore. With flat, alluvial lands, two of native varietals are Lison and Refosco dal penduncolo rosso.

Lison is a new wine made from the ancient varietal Tocai Italico (also known as Tocai Friulano). In 2007, the European community agreed that the name Tocai belonged to the Hungarians. Therefore, the Italians renamed the wine Lison. Made with 100% French Sauvignonasse (an ancient grape), Lison (formerly Tocai) is a straw yellow wine that is delicate and acidic with a finish of bitter almonds.

20 November, 2011
Located in the Northeast of Italy is the Veneto Region, famous for the canals of Venice, the architecture of Palladio and the home of Romeo and Juliet. Comprised of seven provinces, five of them produce wine: Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso and Venice. The Veneto Region is also responsible for producing 20% of all Italian D.O.C. wines. In fact, there are a total of 25 D.O.C. wines and 11 D.O.C.G. wines from within the Veneto region.

Piave D.O.C. is located between the provinces of Treviso and Veneto and is 30 kilometers wide and 40 kilometers long. Seventy years ago, the region consisted of 80% red wine production. However today, red wine is makes up only 3% of overall production. It is an area mostly known for Prosecco, with the finest selections emerging from an area between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. The Prosecco Superiore Conegliano Valdobbiadene became a D.O.C.G. in 2009.

20 November, 2011
Located in the Northeast of Italy is the Veneto Region, famous for the canals of Venice, the architecture of Palladio and the home of Romeo and Juliet. Comprised of seven provinces, five of them produce wine: Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso and Venice. The Veneto Region is also responsible for producing 20% of all Italian D.O.C. wines. In fact, there are a total of 25 D.O.C. wines and 11 D.O.C.G. wines from within the Veneto region.

Padua is the oldest wine producing region in the Veneto dating back to the Romans. The primary varietals from this area are Friularo (known as Raboso in other areas) from the Bagnoli D.O.C., Fior d'Arancia D.O.C.G. (made from Moscato Giallo) from Colli Euganei and Raboso from Corti Benedettine del Padovano D.O.C.

20 November, 2011

Located in the Northeast of Italy is the Veneto Region, famous for the canals of Venice, the architecture of Palladio and the home of Romeo and Juliet. Comprised of seven provinces, five of them produce wine: Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso and Venice. The Veneto Region is also responsible for producing 20% of all Italian D.O.C. wines. In fact, there are a total of 25 D.O.C. wines and 11 D.O.C.G. wines from within the Veneto region.

At the border of Verona and Vicenza is Gambellara D.O.C. which is also made with the Garganega grape. In addition to the dry white wine Gambellara, Garganega is also used in the sweet wine production of Gambellara Vin Santo D.O.C.G. and Recioto di Gambellara D.O.C.G. Monti Lessini D.O.C. comes from the hills of Vicenza and is made with the highly acidic Durella grape to make a crisp sparkling wine.

At the foot of the mountains is the area of Breganze, famous for the Vesapiolo grape which is used to make Breganze Vespaiolo, Breganze Vespaiolo Spumante and Breganze Torcololato, a passito wine. In the south of Vicenza is the Colli Berici D.O.C. which comes from the Berici Hills. The most typical varietal is Tocai Rosso (now called Tai Rosso) which is the same clone as Grenache and has characteristics of strawberry, cherry, raspberry and spice.

20 November, 2011
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