"Do your wines contain sulfites? My friend is very allergic and she'll go into shock if she drinks wine containing sulfites." That’s enough to scare me silly. All I need is to have a gasping, cyanotic customer on the floor. "Well, uh," I stammer, "then perhaps she'd better not have any, just in case." And I pull the glass back. He hangs on to the glass. "So your wines do have sulfites...

Wine is such a mysterious beverage. Wine geeks will sniff it, quaff it, swizzle it, and then come up with all these wild descriptors: cassis, meadow, leather, mushroom. Where do all these elusive aromas and flavors come from? Partly from the grape, partly from aging in oak, (partly from our imaginations), and partly from tannin. Tannins are a group of chemicals that occur in the bark of many...

Hearty-healthy phenolics are the most touted benefits of wine, but another study, performed by biochemist Carlos Muller of California State University at Fresno, measured levels of salicylic acid in various California wines. Salicylic acid, which is also the active ingredient of aspirin, is a powerful antioxidant which also lowers cholesterol ...

Feel the Rage is the new blog site I am using to post all of my novel, Catch of the Day. I am posting a couple-three chapters at a time. The first two chapters are already up, and the last...

Review of Porto Pocas L'Agrima Vinho Do Porto, the sweetest white port made in Portugal. How Ports are Made with an interview with Joe Veselko, Importer with Pocas Port and Douro Wines, Portugal. Chat with Rosalind Johnson, member of Divas Uncorked, Boston, MA, on the Benefits of Joining a Wine Tasting Group. Wine and Food Pairing: Porto Pocas Director's Choice Special Reserve Tawny Port...

Review of Porto Pocas L'Agrima Vinho Do Porto, the sweetest white port made in Portugal. How Ports are Made with an interview with Joe Veselko, Importer with Pocas Port and Douro Wines, Portugal. Chat with Rosalind Johnson, member of Divas Uncorked, Boston, MA, on the Benefits of Joining a Wine Tasting Group. Wine and Food Pairing: Porto Pocas Director's Choice Special Reserve Tawny Port...

Review of Porto Pocas L'Agrima Vinho Do Porto, the sweetest white port made in Portugal. How Ports are Made with an interview with Joe Veselko, Importer with Pocas Port and Douro Wines, Portugal. Chat with Rosalind Johnson, member of Divas Uncorked, Boston, MA, on the Benefits of Joining a Wine Tasting Group. Wine and Food Pairing: Porto Pocas Director's Choice Special Reserve Tawny Port...

Review of Porto Pocas L'Agrima Vinho Do Porto, the sweetest white port made in Portugal. How Ports are Made with an interview with Joe Veselko, Importer with Pocas Port and Douro Wines, Portugal. Chat with Rosalind Johnson, member of Divas Uncorked, Boston, MA, on the Benefits of Joining a Wine Tasting Group. Wine and Food Pairing: Porto Pocas Director's Choice Special Reserve Tawny Port...

There was a fairly portentous song by Fastball, which came out in the 90s. It was called The Way, and it captures my mood -- my lazy, slacking, feckless, irresponsible mood -- as I've gone back to work and left...

As you may recall, last month (was it only last month? It feels like a mythic time...) -- Last month we went to Le Fonti, Chianti, and tasted the delicious wines and olive oil of the Caciorgna-Bernini team. Along with...