I was given an amazing birthday gift in November, an old bottle of wine by Produttori del Barbaresco, the 1959 Riserva. If it's an old white wine or champagne, you need to chill it, of course. This is very exciting - how often does one get to drink a bottle that old? In my case, not very often. How do you open an old bottle of wine? MORE >>

So grab a glass of wine, throw another log on the fire, grab a sandwich, channel your inner wine geek, and listen to John opine on the topics of natural wines, zero dosage champagne, some pitfalls of collecting, 2007 vintage for Port and in the Rhone, the nobility of chenin blanc, the Piedmont producer Produttori del Barbaresco and more! MORE >>

So after visiting the three champagne festivals, I was lucky enough to get a VIP tour of Champagne G.H. I couldn't resist asking, for even though I am not a poster kind of person the color and vibrance displayed here -- gorgeously dressed people enjoying Mumm Champagne at the opera -- was a happy thought. Champagne News g.h. MORE >>

And if you can't figure out a sweet Valentine Day gift, get yourself a bottle and two tickets and head down to New Orleans on April 15th for an incredibly bubble bath. THE INDEPENDANT CHAMPAGNE AND SPARKLING WINE INVITATIONAL Meet the next generation of wine weekends. Never before has any one put together such celebration of bubbles. MORE >>

Alice-for office gift for my staff about $25. All chardonnay, extremely gorgeous, one hell of a bargain, and while I'm a slut for bubbles (organic & biodynamic mostly) from Champagne, this one takes no prisoners. That Cremant de jura? The Jura we talked about was the Dom. de Montbourgeau Cremant. MORE >>