I have a stockpile of halogen light bulbs stacked in my pantry. Most of the time, my house is filled with LEDs, but in the winter, when temperatures drop, I switch out my LEDs for a month or two to enjoy the warm glow of my halogens. Believe it or not, I’ve noticed that I…
Having a home cellar can be a form of torture for those of us who love drinking wine. It takes a lot of willpower to leave that bottle of Bouchard Pere & Fils where it is, knowing that it’s sitting on the shelf just waiting for someone to uncork it. That’s one reason I only…
Deciding on a vintage’s quality before all of the grapes have been plucked from the vines can be a gamble. Years ago, when I first heard reports about Bordeaux’s 2012 grapes, I was ready to write the vintage off entirely; cold, wet spring weather resulted in uneven flowering, and by July, a massive heat wave…
I think of Sancerre and Chablis as sisters from another mister. Sure, Chablis is technically Burgundy, just as Sancerre is technically Loire, but they have far more in common with each other than they do with any of their regional peers. The very first time I tried a bottle of Chablis, I did a double…
I’ve had plenty of terrible restaurant experiences, but never while I was sitting at a wine bar. It might be the sense of camaraderie that comes with dining at the bar; formality dissolves, complete strangers strike up conversations, and most importantly, the sommelier is in the mood to talk. Years ago, I struck up a…
Years ago, I took a tour of a California winery with a few friends. Our guide took us through the gem of the estate: a carpeted wine cellar hidden away behind the kitchen. In the beginning of the tour, our group was loud and boisterous, but the moment we stepped inside that cellar, the mood…
I distinctly remember the first time I saw a vintner culling grapes. I was just seven years old, wandering through the vines of a family friend’s California estate, admiring all of the big, juicy grapes hanging from the branches. You can imagine my surprise when I saw one of the vineyard’s workers snip off what…
Some wine experts have a pretty loose definition of “unicorn wine.” I’ve seen critics give unexceptional wines the unicorn title simply because the vintner didn’t produce as much wine as expected in a particular year. Personally, I’m far more measured about which wines I deem unicorns. They can’t just be rare or expensive; they should…
A few months ago, I went to a Pinot Noir tasting and met a few budding wine collectors. They’d only been collecting wine for a handful of years, and they were loving every second of it–that is, until we started talking about wine storage. One of the collectors told the group that he’d just finished…
I’ve known collectors who will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on elaborate wine storage racks that look like they belong in an art museum rather than a cellar. Maybe you’ve thought about buying one of these racks–if so, you may want to rethink your decision. Although many of these racks are beautiful and…
Growing up in a wine-loving family, I learned that patience makes great wines. My great uncle had an apartment in New York that was covered wall-to-wall in empty bottles of Bordeaux Grand Cru, but he was the most proud of his dust-covered collection of 40-year-old wines that he had yet to drink. I own one…
Whenever I’ve entered sommelier food pairing competitions, there’s usually one rule: no Champagne. No matter how much you might want to pair that fresh, herb-crusted rack of lamb with a dry, summery Krug rosé, you’re forced to pick a red wine instead. That’s because Champagne is a no-brainer wine for a food pairing; it’s easy…
