Summer time is a great time for wine, friends and fun.  But after a few weeks of drinking those California Chardonnay staples or the standard Sauvignon Blancs that everyone loves so much, where should you go next?  What are some other summer options that can quench your thirst while offering a little something new, a…

We all want to find the best wine values we can, but often times we aren’t looking in the right places, or observing the right things.  Are you looking at the label, the ratings, the price discount, or the sign that says “staff picks” next to the wine? Those can be helpful as part of…

Breaking a cork inside the neck of a bottle when opening wine can be particularly frustrating, especially if there’s a crowd.  While this doesn’t happen often (primarily on older bottles where the cork has experienced deep seepage or become dried out and brittle), it’s usually not that hard to stage a strong recovery and remove…

There’s no question that the wine world can be intimidating for those early on in their wine journey. I remember a while back when I was at a business dinner and one of the gentleman I was dining with was ordering wine by the producer and year without looking at the wine list. I hoped…

“Wine is sunlight held together by water.” – Galileo “What I like most is wine that belongs to others.” – Diogenes “We are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born. Astrology…

#1 Reinserting the stained side of the wine cork Here’s an easy one to get started. When you are reinserting a cork back into the bottle for storage, you should always insert the stained side towards the wine. Essentially putting it back in the same way it came out. Granted, it will be a little…

Developing a complete appreciation for the world of wine frequently requires stepping out of your comfort zone.  And it’s hard to do, and rather expensive if you do it regularly. But on every trip to the store, I try to buy one bottle that I am not familiar with, or a wine from a region…

Visiting a winery, especially for the first time, can be intimidating and uncomfortable, but if you follow these tips and put yourself in the right frame of mind, visiting wineries can be one of the most rewarding, fun and educational things you do on your wine journey. The first thing you want to do is…

Reading a French wine label is a little different than reading one from a US winery.  The labels are typically more complex with unfamiliar terms and phrases but with a little practice and geographic research, you’ll soon be listing off your favorite appellations in no time. There are four key aspects to a French wine…