Handling the Wine Presentation Ritual
In many restaurants, the wine presentation ritual occurs with solemnity and ceremony. The hushed tones of the waiter and the ritualized performance of the wine presentation can make you want to smile or [more…]
Restaurant Wine Tips
Drinking wine in a restaurant requires so many decisions that most people could use some tips or advice. Should you leave the wine in an ice bucket? What should you do if the wine is bad? And can you bring [more…]
The Dynamics of Food and Wine
Every food dish is dynamic — it’s made up of several ingredients and flavors that interact to create a delicious whole. Every wine is dynamic in exactly the same way. When food and wine combine in your [more…]
How to Match Wine with Food
Two principles can help in matching wine with food: the complementary principle and the contrast principle. The complementary principle involves choosing a wine that is similar in some way to the dish [more…]
The New World of American Wines
Even though the United States produced wine commercially in the nineteenth century, the U.S. wine industry made it big only beginning in the 1970s. Prohibition from 1920 to 1933, the Great Depression, [more…]
Why California Wines Are So Popular
The Golden State of California makes more wine than all other U.S. states combined. Its wine production is huge even on a world scale. The U.S. as a whole ranks fourth for the quantity of wine it produces [more…]
France's Alsace Wine Region
France's Alsace wine region seems a world apart from the rest of France. Alsace sits on the verge of France, with a culture, architecture, and cuisine uniquely its own. Alsace’s wines are also unique. [more…]
California's Red Varietal Wines
The most popular red varietal wines in California include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel (a red wine and also a pink wine). Pinot Noir and Syrah/Shiraz are also fairly popular red varietal wines [more…]
California's White Varietal Wines
California's best-known and most popular white varietal wines are Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Other widely available California white varietal wines include: Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio/Gris [more…]
California's Rosé (Blush) Wines
Because of the popularity of White Zinfandel and other California blush (pink and sweet) wines, California’s rosé wines have had a reputation for being sweet and innocuous. That reputation is changing, [more…]
California's Napa Valley Wine Region
California's Napa Valley is the best-known, most prestigious wine region in America. And yet only about four percent of California’s wine comes from the vineyard lands of Napa Valley! Most of Napa Valley’s [more…]
The Wines of California's Napa Valley
The Napa Valley wine region in California benefits from its range of growing conditions. Winemakers of the Napa Valley region produce popular types of wine, along with some of the lesser-known whites and [more…]
California's Sonoma County Wine Region
The Sonoma County wine region is on California’s North Coast, directly north of San Francisco. It borders the Napa Valley wine region to the east but extends farther north. Sonoma is more than twice as [more…]
The Wines of California's Sonoma County
California's Sonoma County succeeds with many diverse wines, but Sonoma's two most renowned wines are Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. Many wine critics believe that the nation’s best Pinot Noirs come from Sonoma’s [more…]
Lesser Known Wine Regions in California
Napa Valley and Sonoma County might be California’s most famous wine regions, but they’re only part of today’s wine story in California. Vineyards that are north, east, and south of Napa and Sonoma grow [more…]
How Different California Varietal Wines Age
Some California varietal wines — especially the “better” vintages from years in which climatic conditions were superb — age remarkably well or even improve with aging. However, it’s perfectly fine to drink [more…]
The Wine Regions of Oregon
Oregon’s wine regions share a cool climate, primarily because no high mountains separate the vineyards from the Pacific Ocean. The ocean influence brings cool temperatures and rain to Oregon. Grapegrowing [more…]
The Wine Regions of Washington State
Although Washington and Oregon are neighboring states, their wine regions have vastly different climates due to the location of the vineyards relative to the Cascade Mountains, which cut through both states [more…]
Wines Produced in New York State
Wines produced in New York state don’t get the recognition they deserve, perhaps because of California’s overwhelming presence in the U.S. winemaking market. New York ranks as the third largest wine producing [more…]
Wine Regions in Canada
Canada’s wines are known mainly to Canadians, who consume the bulk of their country’s production. Ask many wine lovers in the U.S. about Canadian wines, and you’ll probably get a blank stare in response [more…]
How French Wines Differ from American Wines
France has been the leader of the winemaking world for centuries. France is number one in wine production (most years) and also in wine consumption. In the quality department, the most critically-acclaimed [more…]
Types of French Wines Available Today
France produces more wine than any other country — except when Italy does. (The two countries are neck and neck.) The amount of wine produced varies from one year to the next, according to the weather. [more…]
Grape Varieties Grown in France
Practically all the most famous grape varieties used in the world's wines are French varieties, meaning that they either originated in France or became famous through their expression in French wines. [more…]
Understanding How French Wines are Named
The first step toward understanding French wine names is to realize that, in France, the government controls how wines are named, and every wine name is a reflection of French wine law. In theory, you [more…]
France's Bordeaux Wine Region
The Bordeaux region that produces France's famous red Bordeaux wines lies in the southern part of western France, on the Atlantic coast. The Gironde Estuary and its two major rivers, the Dordogne and the [more…]
