We blind-tasted the wines and individually picked our two favorites for current drinking, along with a wine that we would want for the cellar. it was interesting to note that some of us were reminded of Chenin Blanc when drinking these wines, in that they took on a woolly note as they aired out. Alice loved this wine. MORE >>

We’re back with Part Deux of our interview with John Gilman, author of the newsletter A View from the Cellar ( part one is here ). How do you make a screwcap-sealed wine taste and smell like rotting cabbage or burning rubber- put it in the cellar for a few years. German Riesling. And I really don’t understand why. The Loire. MORE >>

The host picks a theme and decides how to explore that theme. Recently it was our turn to host wine group and I chose Loire Chenin Blancs as the theme. And this is an interloper, a wine made from the Romorantin grape, not a Chenin Blanc. And because our wine tastes are quite diverse. It pretty much turned out okay. MORE >>

Imagine this: a gorgeous late September Sunday afternoon in the bucolic North Fork of Long Island, verdant fields of fresh sod, roadside patches teeming with young families picking bright orange pumpkins, the weary afternoon sun's rays coming in at an oblique angle casting a warm golden glow on everything. How would these wines hold up? MORE >>

I bet all of you read Eric Asimov's column on Wednesday where he talks about learning about wine at home by having your local wine salesperson pick out a case, taste through it, etc. Pick what sounds interesting to you, if you don't feel like shelling out 300 clams for a case of wine you've never before tried. That's pretty intense. MORE >>