Professional Drinking

It’s the perfect beverage to celebrate a big event, a marriage, a graduation or even making it through a tough week.  Sparkling wine or champagne (read my prior article on this) pairs great with food and has that something extra in the bubbles that let you know...

After a wonderful meal with clients, rather than dessert some people opt for Port.   It’s a great way to let the meal settle and relax and talk.  But what is port and what are the differences between Ruby, Tawny and Vintage? Generically, Port is a red,...

We’ve all seen a sommelier gently pouring a bottle of older wine into an elegant decanter and service from this fancy glassware, not the bottle.  But why do they do this?  And when is it appropriate? There is one main reason to decant a wine and a secondary...

The three-tier distribution system (Maker – Distributor – Retailer) goes back to the repeal of Prohibition in the United States in 1933.  The states were put in charge of the laws around distribution of alcohol, but the states and the federal governmentwere...

If you answered $90, you are only partially right.  You can spend a widely varying amount on a bottle of wine, from a bottle of Barefoot wine at under $5.00 to a bottle of  of Chateau Petrus at nearly $5,000.  They are both wine, made from grapes, so...

The 4th of July is around the corner and while the traditional beer goes well with your grilled hot dogs, burgers and steak, there are some patriotic wines that can make great summer sippers. Red (Okay Pink) - Berberana Gran Tradicion Cava Rose Brut, Spain This...

Making wine starts with grapes and most importantly, ripe grapes. The secret of the grower is to bring the grapes to their ultimate peak of ripeness, given their local weather and geography.  The trick is to pick them as ripe as possible before colder weather or...

We’ve all seen the ratings of wines in in our favorite wine shop, usually wines with scores in the 80s or even 90s.  88 points! 92 Points! But what do these scores really mean?  Are higher scoring wines definitively better?  And what does a wine score...

Champagne. It just rolls off the tongue and sounds luxurious, just like you are about to celebrate a special occasion. But wine with bubbles is fun anytime and I’d suggest that we can never drink enough bubbles! We can thank the Benedictine Monks for creating...

One of the parlor tricks that Sommeliers use to deepen their appreciation of wine is called deductive tasting.  When doing this, they taste a wine without seeing the label on the bottle, or “blind”. Based on the various sensory input, they will deduce the grape,...