Earlier this year, I accidentally “decanted” a small serving of Champagne. I had poured some of it into a standard white glass, but because I was getting my house ready for dinner guests to arrive, I forgot where I set the glass down. I was eager to taste the wine, so I poured myself another…
I once visited the home of a magnificent wine taster. The 70-year-old collector had developed an incredible palate for both Burgundy and aged scotch in his lifetime, and could tell you everything about Cote de Nuits. I assumed he would have a massive wine cellar in his home, but I found that he kept all…
Just five years after George Washington became the first president of the United States, he bought six pipes (that’s 756 gallons) of Madeira wine. To say that Washington was a wine enthusiast is probably the understatement of the last two centuries. Even before the Revolutionary War, wine played an important, underlying role in the U.S.…
Whenever I decide to give someone a bottle of wine for the holidays, I always have to take a buddy with me to the wine shop. Why? Because I know I’ll walk away with one gift bottle…and about 20 other bottles for myself. My buddy is there to make sure I get only what’s on…
The 1929 DRC Les Gaudichots is the kind of wine that even the most seasoned of critics and collectors are afraid to open. One critic said that he always wanted to buy this wine, but he didn’t have the funds on his own to invest in it. He eventually split the cost with a friend;…
When collectors ask me how often they should organize their wine cellars, they give me a strange look when I respond, “Ideally, never.” The best wine cellars are those that stay organized without much additional effort on your part, and as an organization expert, I’ve helped many clients accomplish this goal. I once met a…
So now that fall is over, many serious collectors are dealing with fall allocations: stacks of wine cases filled with dozens of new bottles. We’ve already talked about how to deal with those bottles, but what can you do with the packaging they were shipped in? While they’re beautiful to look at and difficult to throw…
Two years ago, at a wine bar’s tasting event, I sat next to a man who described himself as “a proud California Cabernet nutter,” and who drank New World wines almost exclusively. We tasted an Oregon Pinot Noir that he seemed to enjoy, but when the host brought out a bottle of Bordeaux, the man…
Having gone through a devastating spring frost and continued problems with premox, Burgundy needed some good news for a change, and it looks like it got it. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Burgundy’s low grape yields might actually produce one of the most legendary wines of this decade, which is excellent news for…
The distinctive smells of a wine that has gone bad—often reminiscent of moldy wet newspaper and acetone—are the last things anyone wants to experience when they uncork a bottle of fine wine. However, you can sometimes spot the telltale signs that wine has gone bad in storage before you even open the bottle. Knowing how to spot common red flags is a great way to avoid buying spoiled bottles on the secondary market. It can also warn you of potential storage issues so you can correct any problems before they ruin the other bottles in your collection.
Have you ever wanted a career in the wine industry? This lofty-sounding goal is more attainable than you might think. Take winemaker Michael Dashe. More than a decade ago, he was an abalone diver who had only a passing interest in wine. One day, winemaker Bob Roudon asked if he could trade some wine for…
A year ago, I was having dinner at one of my favorite wine bars in town when I noticed that the owner looked a little morose. I’d known him for two years, and he was usually boisterous and optimistic–that night, he seemed distracted and cranky. I asked him how he was doing, and he said,…
