Wondering Through the World of Wine

  As I stood there, the hose of a gravity siphon in hand, dripping in wayward Pinot Grigio, I couldn’t help but swallow the little bit of wine that had ended up in my mouth. As the flavors of peach, tangerine, pineapple and pear rolled over my tongue, I was ecstatic to discover that though I was wearing a portion of the final product, my first attempt at winemaking had been a success.               The process of making wine has always been a fascination of mine. Honestly, how can one wine taste so incredibly different from a wine made just down the road with the same type of grapes? Over the years, I have poured over numerous books on the subject. I also had no shame in listening in on the conversations down in the production and barrel rooms at the winery, peaking in on what they were doing whenever I could. All of this gave me a great foundation for understanding the various intricacies of the winemaking stages, ...

  The meaning of friendship is one of the hard truths learned as an adult. As a kid, a bond is formed simply because two children live next door to each other or because they both like unicorns. In high school and college, a friend base is commonly made from the people who are in the same extracurricular groups. Out of school, work friends become the norm. Then life happens. People become busy with families, careers, the day-to-day, and what was once 20 friends in a group text dwindles down to a close few. Large gatherings after work for cocktails become monthly brunch and yoga get togethers with that one great friend, and a dinner or two throughout the year with a couple of others. Just like a bottle of wine, friendships change with age, and only a few can withstand the test of time.               The meaning of friendship has been on my mind for the last few years as I have slowly watched my own friend base slowly...

  Food and wine. They are the ultimate besties. They complement each other’s personalities, bring out the best in each other and have a whole lot of fun along the way. Life isn’t always peaches and cream, though. Sometimes, one of them will get into a tannic mood, while the other is feeling extra sweet, and an unsavory situation will occur. They bicker, they leave in a bitter rage, but the next day they are right back together, having all of that fun. As any wine lover knows, you can’t discuss wine without food. Go to a winery or tasting room, and they will tell you what foods go well with their wines. Go to a restaurant with a decent wine list, and the staff can’t wait to tell you which of their dishes go best with which of their wine selections. Most of the notable wine regions in the world make vino that specifically vibes with the local cuisine. It’s kismet.               What a wine and food dish do to each o...

  Plum, leather, vanilla, lavender, hay, dirt, mushroom, barnyard funk, pencil shavings, black cherry, red cherry… The descriptors used to explain the tastes and smells of wine are as vast as the number of wine grapes grown. Opening a new bottle of wine is like opening a box of chocolates, you just never know what you are going to get. Will you be greeted with an abundance of fruit, the creaminess of caramel, or the earthiness of mushrooms and leaves? Sometimes, deciphering wine notes is as easy as the apple pie the wine tastes like. Other times, you have a note that is literally on the tip of your tongue, but you just can’t quite place what it is. I recently went through a perplexing bottle that got me thinking about all of these wine notes, and the headaches they occasionally bring.                Upon opening a new bottle the other day, after much sniffing, swirling and gargling, I was having a hard time ded...

Gingerbread. I love gingerbread. To me nothing says Christmas more than the taste of molasses, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg swirling over my tongue. I have always enjoyed this holiday treat with coffee, tea or hot chocolate, but a few years ago, after I read that it paired well with the Italian dessert wine Passito di Pantelleria, I knew that one day I would have to try this combo. Not the most common of wines, it became my holiday quest to find it.                For the last couple of years, I have passively searched for this unique Sicilian wine made from sun dried grapes. Up and down wine shop aisles and searches on wine.com were bleak, as it was either not carried or sold out. For reasons unknown to me, this year my scans and light searches became more intense. This was the year I was to get my hands on a bottle of this elusive vino. Starting in November, I searched the inventory of all of the stores I h...