Last week in the NYT, Eric Asimov highlighted the wine program at the restaurant Nice Matin, a restaurant on the Upper West Side that has remarkable breadth of offerings, depth of vintages and sharp pricing. It is arguably the best city on earth for wine lovers. But the status quo is under threat thanks to new legislation in Albany. MORE >>

He works with retailers such as Chambers Street Wines in NYC and Terroir in SF as well as restaurants. All the wines are from small producers with a focus on wines made with a minimal hand in the cellar. This week, our “set of titanium corkscrews” award goes to Jose Pastor. “You can’t score a tomato.” MORE >>

Glen Carlou and Backsberg are neighboring wineries in Paarl who kindly hosted me for a tasting of both wines, then lunch at Backsberg’s lovely al fresco restaurant. In the fullness of time he became a butcher, then bought the farm that is today Backsberg Estate Cellars. You can read more about the restaurant here. News S. MORE >>

I hadn’t planned on visiting the Northern Rhone, yet when I had a change of plans during a trip to Provence, I went to the Stephen Tanzer forum (International Wine Cellar) to get some helpful advice, along with eRobertParker.com. View Full Album “Help! need a hotel recommendation for the Northern Rhone!” Here are some scenes from dinner. MORE >>

decided to open a bottle that isn't important to me, something that I would cull from my cellar. Look at my notes from Cellar Tracker and you'll see what I mean: 2/9/2008 : up there with the very finest Bourgogne i've ever had. Seems like a solid candidate for cellar-culling, no? This is an idea that I firmly believe in. MORE >>