Click to enlarge or click here for link.

If any of you are vacationing in the northern California wine country this summer, you’re probably just as much interested in where to dine as where the multitude of tasting rooms are located. I’ve had the pleasure of spending a great deal of time, particularly in Napa, over the past two decades and I’m always excited to taste through a cornucopia of wines and to sample some of the best food in the world.

I’m not going to recommend a list of wineries and tasting rooms for your visit since there are literally hundreds available in Napa and Sonoma alone, plus you may have some favorites you’d like to explore. No, today, you’re wandering wino will provided some dining and lodging recommendations if you’re planning a trip to the wine country in the not-too-distant future. But first, let’s define what comprises the ever-growing landscape of California wine. (more…)

Summer’s coming with a fury and, like a creature shedding fur, I’m transitioning from the heavy reds of winter to lighter and more refreshing wines which are better suited to the tropical temperatures to come. I’m also altering my food choices by selecting lighter meals with more fresh veggies and fruits. I am not, however, giving up red meat nor will I forego the pleasure of red wine. This is strictly a seasonal decision having nothing, I assure you, to do with a lifestyle change and everything to do with sating my hedonistic tendencies.

(more…)

Aging wine with the hope that it will morph into something sublime is risky, but to me it’s worth the gamble.

One of the benefits of surviving youthful excess, war, marriage, physical infirmities, children and several decades of stressful living is that I have accumulated several cases of older wine. As a matter of fact, I continue to collect wines which I feel are age-worthy, despite the real prospect that these bottles will outlive me. Some folks get wiser with old age. I just get more wine! While others were acquiring life skills, maturity, wealth and the wisdom that is evidenced by graying temples, I acquired….. more wine.

Over the years, I have experienced both the ecstasy of sipping liquid nirvana, and the agony of having to discard a wine “too long in the tooth.” It can be a wonderfully pleasurable experience when you uncork that special bottle of wine you’ve allowed to languish for a decade or two in your cellar. Conversely, the experience can be tremendously unpleasant when the stuff from that coveted bottle smells like sewer gas and tastes like slightly spoiled witch hazel with nuances of mold. Yes, aging wine with the hope that it will morph into something sublime is risky, but to me it’s worth the gamble. Why? (more…)

“Don’t cry for me Argentina!” That musical refrain comes to mind whenever I open one of the lovely wines from that mysterious country. This is a land where the vibrant wine industry is in its infancy, and where the political and economic conditions are as fragile as when Evita captured the hearts of the world 60 years ago.

Argentina has the largest Italian immigrant population of any country on the planet, which may explain the country’s love of wine and food and also its whacky political system. The country is known for its world-class beef and it should therefore come as no surprise that the wine production is predominately red.

(more…)