Crisp weather has arrived, Fall foliage is underway, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, shifting our focus in the direction of the all-American grape variety: Zinfandel. Since its earliest mentions in literature from the 1820s, Zinfandel has been claimed as America’s own wine variety. And like many great stories of immigration, Zinfandel’s journey is … Read More
Bodegas Tradición is located at N° 3 Calle Cordobeses in an unassuming little plaza in the Santiago Quarter of Jerez de la Frontera. Along with the San Miguel Quarter, Santiago is famous as a Gitano neighborhood. Indeed, many of the most revered names in the history of flamenco lived and performed there. In an interesting … Read More
Wine styles are constantly shifting. Ripeness, acidity, body, alcohol all take turns on center stage as the wine pendulum swings. Recently, California has been in the spotlight, leading the way toward a return to a lower alcohol, higher acid, more mineral-driven winemaking style than in the previous two decades. While it might be colloquially referred … Read More
It’s a crisp, fall afternoon. The sun is shining and the air seems full of vigor. It suddenly strikes you as the perfect day for a picnic in the park. It may not, however, have occurred to you to enjoy your lunch in the bucolic setting of your local cemetery. And yet, a century and … Read More
Tuscan legend has it that when Catherine de’ Medici of Florence was married to King Henry II of France in 1533, they exchanged important wedding gifts. The Medici family gifted the French royals forks, which were already widely used in Italy, but unknown in France; and the French gifted the Medicis Cabernet grapes, which were … Read More
Is there any better time of year to be in Japan than October? We don’t think so. The punishing dripping heat of summer subsides to brisk fall weather. Foraged mushrooms begin to appear on restaurant menus. The delicate Pacific saury fish, known locally as sanma, is caught and grilled whole. And of course the fruits … Read More
With the barrels being filled, the tanks frothing away, the presses put to slumber, and the birds eagerly eying their leftover treats, the 2018 harvest in France is beginning to wind down. Join us as we look through the eyes of the people on the ground, who for the past month have toiled night and … Read More
Late summer. Greenmarket bins are overflowing with heaps of ratatouille-friendly tomatoes, squash, and eggplant, but try as global warming might to make Eternal Summer a reality, change is in the air. The first new crops of Mutsu, Macoun, and the rest of the gang hint at the impending onslaught of snacking apples, and as the … Read More
Thank you to all that could join our Booze & Bubbles Tasting, our fall tasting where spirits are now a headlining act! Craft Spirits has remained our largest growth category for seven years running! We’ve been adding suppliers at a furious pace (600 SKUs available now). Actually, we do our best to say “no,” but … Read More
“More than any other great grape, Riesling has suffered from prostitution of its name. The word Riesling has been filched for incorporation into the names of all sorts of vine, many of them mediocre.” Jancis Robinson, Vines, Grapes and Wines, 1986. At the end of Prohibition, over one million gallons of “Riesling” were produced, and … Read More
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