Champagne is the most brand conscious of wines, unapologetically purchased for its price and status: Moet, Cristal, Krug, names mentioned by rappers and Wall Street traders alike, although perhaps less so by the latter these days. Chief among those in terms of brand recognition is the highway-safety-orange label of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. Ubiquitous in wine […]
Have you ever noticed the word “Monticello” printed on the label of your favorite Virginia wine? “Christ,” you probably thought, “is there anything around here that man hasn’t gotten his clutches on?” Well, no, but the use of “Monticello” on the label does not mean that the wine is made at TJ’s house. Monticello is […]
The art of making wine is in many ways the art of blending. For most of history, the world’s classic wines have been created by blending different grapes to create a unified whole, named not for those grapes, but for the places they were from: Champagne, Chianti, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Bordeaux. Even in Burgundy, famously obsessed with […]
It starts like this: One set of feet goes Stomp. Stomp Stomp, stomp, clap. Stomp, stomp, clap, clap, stomp. Pause. And then many feet-many hands 10 times faster, stomp stompstomp stomp clap, clapclapclap, clapstompclapstomp. The Best of Both Worlds Dance and Step Competition MLK Performing Arts Center Saturday, January 24 The Best of Both Worlds […]
When you are in the wine trade, most people assume you just get paid to drink, and they are essentially right. Sometimes, however, you are not only paid to drink, but to eat as well, and to do it in a far off land. In that case, those people are not only right, but also […]
Holidays, overindulgence, New Year’s resolutions—some of you may have woken up January 1 and immediately pledged to stop drinking so much or to stop drinking at all.
The simple reason some of us spend many liver-destroying hours obsessing over wine is that it’s endlessly multifaceted.
Got family and friends that are wine lovers? Searching for the perfect gift?
It recently occurred to me while tasting wine at a local vineyard that Virginia wineries have a very different business philosophy than their European cousins.