If you’ve caught the wine bug hard, the need to purchase a Laguiole corkscrew may have set in. You may already own one. Simply put, they’re the most elegant (and expensive) way to open a bottle of wine. And now that the reality-based wine community is clamoring for the end ...

Last week I talked about why it’s a good idea to take wine notes. This week we’ll go through the tasting note for one wine together. To do this properly, you’ll need the following materials: 1 bottle 2003 M. Chapoutier Belleruche Rouge Côtes du Rhône. Its label, like all Chapoutier ...

We all know of course what the best wine of all time is. That would be the 1811 Chateau d’Yquem which was awarded 100 points by both Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator (note: there was no such consensus on the 1847) How can I say this with such confidence? ...

Last month, faster than Boris Yeltsin could say tough shitzki y’all, the Russian government pulled the plug on Georgian wine, banning all imports . Since Georgia exports 89% of its wine to Russia, it’s been devastating to the Georgian wine industry. The ban continues and has generated a good deal ...

When Diesel - the ultra trendy purveyor of $300 (₤160) jeans - decided to get into the wine business this year with equally expensive wines, they got the grape varieties all wrong. Sorry but Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir simply aren’t the vinous equivalent of denim. That honor ...

Although wine is an ancient drink, it’s surprising how very young our perception of it is. Just take a look at our “classic” wine references’ first publication date: The World Atlas of Wine , Hugh Johnson, 1971 Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion , 1983 Sotheby’s World Wine Encyclopedia , Tom Stevenson, ...

This article accompanies the newly released Map of London Wine Shops Things aren’t always what you expect. Moving to London last fall, I fully expected to be immersed in a vast wine playground.* After all, this is the home of the Masters of Wine, the world’s oldest wine shops and ...

Ten years ago. . . Man walks in to a wine shop and asks for a wine to go with a certain dish. The clerk replies: “German Riesling”. Man walks out of wine shop. Wait, where’s the punch line? The badum-bump? There’s none of that because it’s not a joke. ...

(note: please click on any image to enlarge) It seems like just a few years ago that the only quality wine makers using the screwcap (or Stelvin) were either in New Zealand or named Randall Grahm. They’re now practically everywhere as people are finally starting to realize that there may ...

This article appearded in the August/September 2006 edition of Connections Magazine (Ireland) It must be getting hot in California wine country. Randall Grahm, rock-star winemaker of Bonny Doon fame, was scouting out vineyards in southern England. England? I was driving around West Sussex earlier this year hoping to visit one ...