The classic wine grapes and regions all have a “tell”–a set of sensory traits that help wine pros ID them blind. Here are some of the blind tasting clues this bad-ass group of somms shared during a recent blind tasting practice at my house–following an intensive day of testing wine theory, blind tasting and service at the prestigious, invite-only Rudd Roundtable.
Savoring James Beard Award nominations and TV times with Sara Moulton and Ina Garten
On the seventh date of Christmas my true love shared with me…a “swan date” memory. How perfect! If you have been to Boston Common in summertime, you’ve seen swans-a-swimming, and way more than seven.
On the sixth date of Christmas my true love cooked for me…truffled eggs! This time of year around our house, ’tis the season to be truffle (which certainly makes us jolly, too!). The white Italian Alba truffles come in first–it will be black French Perigord truffle season around January. The white truffles are way more […]
On the Fifth Date of Christmas, my true love brought to me…not five golden rings, but a bottle of five million (give or take) golden bubbles–Champagne Krug Grande Cuvee. Krug is better than bling, at least to me. It’s a special-occasion wine. Or, it is the occasion. It’s sommelier catnip–we can’t resist it, we want […]
On the Fourth Date of Christmas my true love brought to me…a lovely early motherhood memory.
On the Third Date of Christmas we got silly–as we always do–with gifts. We get so excited about some of them that we end up busting one or two out per night, well before the big day. More time to enjoy them, right? This time it’s a Breville pizza maker raving all over its box about the crispy crust you’ll get. We’ve tried everything else (green egg, stone, grill) short of building a pizza oven outdoors.
On the second date of Christmas, my true love brought to me–a glass of rose and a warm memory. We love classic rose and like most people, sip and serve it a lot during warm summer weather. But when Napa wine country cools down to Christmastime temperatures, we find ourselves scrounging in the cellar for the last few of the summer season’s bottles.
On the First Date of Christmas, my true love (my husband John) gave to me: a memory of a wonderful “date” at Restaurant Eugene.
I think that the best gifts for wine lovers are an experience–preferably one they can share with friends and loved ones because that’s what wine is about! So here are my picks for the best, most shareable wine gift “experiences”
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