Malbec News:
I thought I knew something about rice. Then I travelled to southeastern Spain.In early winter, I had lunch at a simple restaurant called Paco Gandía in the hilly wine country of Alicante province. It was a life-altering experience, certainly changing my perspective on the possibilities of rice and the meaning of “paella.”I didn’t get there by accident. I came for lunch with members of the Gil family of Gil Family Estates—best known for their powerful Cabernet-Monastrell blends from their boutiqu...
Lets face it, youre probably not going to be doing triathlons by the end of the year, nor will you have read a book every week. Its OK, dont beat yourself up about it. Last year, I tried to make resolution-making more fun by recommending wines for each pledge you made to yourself in 2018. But this year, I have a few actual wine resolutions in mind that are easy to put into practice; theyre not about deprivation or restrictions, but rather about pleasure and learning.Have you already made a wine ...
The stories that most moved me in 2018 were from parts of Italy that are less developed and less affluent, but sunnier, more agricultural and more soulfully Italian. In other words, the south.Italy is still going through a decades-long wine renaissance—rediscovering its myriad native grape varieties through better viticulture and winemaking. And when it comes to investment in wine, the south generally trails the rest of the country.I have some theories about this. One of them starts with the not...
One of the best quotes Ive ever heard on wine camefrom Jean-Michel Cazes, the patriarch of Château Lynch Bages in Pauillac. Hewas presenting his 2000 vintage at the New York Wine Experience in 2014 when he said, Wine is atime machine. Its the only time machine that really works.When I received an invite from Château Talbot toattend a tasting in honor of 100 years of ownership by the Cordier family,replete with wines covering that time span, I couldnt resist the chance toenter the time machine of...
At Angler, a spectacular addition to the San Francisco restaurant scene, picture windows overlook the Embarcadero to the Bay Bridge, with its ever-changing light show. In the lounge, a crowd heavy on thirty-somethings from the neighboring South of Market tech business scene sip Champagne and inventive cocktails at waist-high tables.In the kitchen, much smaller than that of its sister restaurant,Saison, but still big enough to accommodate a 30-foot wood-fired hearth and grill, chef Joshua Skenes...
Winemakers in the Italian region of Lazio have a problem. The problem is Rome, the great metropolis at its center that is both blessing and curse.Lazio’s hilly provinces, stretching in all directions from the Eternal City, have produced the Mediterranean staples of wine, wheat and olives for millennia.Yet in modern times, Lazio—with its whites based on Malvasia and Trebbiano and reds on Cesanese—became the source of a river of cheap wine for Roman trattorias and consumers.“Rome is a market that ...