Recently my friend and I were enjoying blind tasting a wine as is a typical practice at dinner. After a few moments of careful examination, it was safe to concluded it was from the Old World, likely a 2007, and a Pinot Noir. Yet what sort of Pinot Noir? And if Burgundy, what appellation? The finish was very long and succulent. MORE >>

You know that I'm joking. If I were to list 25 wines that I want to drink in hot weather, I cannot imagine that Cornas would appear. Who wants to drink rustic and earthy northern Rhône Syrah when it's very humid and 94 degrees outside? But the other night I had dinner with a good friend who is somewhat of a short rib master. MORE >>

The other day, I was waiting for a train or a plane, flipping through magazines at a newsstand. picked up the August copy of Food & Wine and saw Ray Isle’s fun, simple graphic suggesting changing white wines as the weather heats up. It feels wrong to exclude fun wines such as Muscadet, riesling (!), Heat: 60°. Chenin Blanc. Heat: 70°. MORE >>

Yesterday I received the news I have been dreading for the past month. My Cardiologist says I can return to work before Labor Day (Sept 6). was just getting use to my time off and was even accomplishing, to Shirley's surprise, getting some task done around the house. did begin to dwell on everything that I have accomplished since the surgery. MORE >>

Three days before my European trip I took the subway up to iTrulli where Nicola Marzovilla had prepared a tasting of the legendary Valentini wines. This was a mini-media tour of the wines, a rare chance to taste a vertical. The house in Abruzzo is famously secretive, and it ain't cheap. But, who knows. Limpid. Nutty. More ginger! MORE >>