Month: June 2009

'While there is a broad range of Italian whites available these days, from arneis to soave, Gavi to grillo, pinot grigio has a prominent place on the spectrum because it is widely grown and easy to find on store shelves in this country. Pick out a few of them and chances are you’ll find at least one that stands out.'

'I don't think you can find a better, widely available, food-friendly white wine for summer sipping than sauv blanc. It's a grape that is successfully grown all over the world, but manages to express itself differently in each place.'

'The European Commission announced on Monday that it had dropped plans to allow rose wine to be made by mixing red and white wines, a victory for producers in France and Italy.'

'Somewhere in the haze of polemic wine punditry, where every old idea can be given a fresh coat of paint and proffered as original thought, Napa got caught up in the overripe wine discussion, lumped in with the hegemony of “Parker’s Palate,” given “poster boy” status.'

'It's June, the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is only three weeks away, and a lot of wine lovers who usually prefer hearty, more robust red wines are turning to something more, well, refreshing.'

'I have in my attic a heavy leather suitcase full of rather fine ponchos that my children won’t let me wear (too embarrassing). Three floors down, in the cellar, there’s a scattering of old South American wine bottles including a treasured Peruvian empty. I drank its contents on a rainy night in the Andes while ostensibly looking for homicidal Maoist guerrillas.'