Where and how it is made will always be a primary focus of any wine. But let’s not forget that wine is made by particular people and is the product of their work and the choices they make while doing it.
Making the wine world your business comes with the requisite risks that being exposed to alcohol all the time can bring. It is important to develop rules that will help you stay safe and sober enough to do your job well.
Wine does not make itself, and the story of the people who make the wine is the real story of the wine. It’s easy to forget this and get caught up in geography, climate, grape variety, cellar equipment, or whatever else and forget about the minds that make the decisions about what ends up in the glass.
2022 was a crazy year of travel and gastronomic excess. I made up for two years of rarely straying far from home by getting on as many planes as possible and eating well where I landed.
While small, boutique wines are sold for the biggest bucks, that doesn’t mean that the larger, more popular, and mass-produced brands are inherently terrible. It is, in fact, possible to get a great-tasting wine at a reasonable price.
Jefford is more than an essayist. He is also a published poet and this sensibility runs through Drinking with the Valkyries. He is a pleasure to read; a master of the English language whose meaning is always clear without being in any way dumbed down.
After determining price, wine gifts could be divided into two broad categories: boring or weird. These terms are meant affectionately and might be more euphemistically called dependable or novel.
Thomas Bachelder and Mary Delaney’s Niagara project is an ambitious and innovative endeavour making sophisticated wines and mapping the terroir of the region at scale.
When compared to its Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot offspring, Cabernet Franc is often described as lighter, with more red than black fruit notes. Sometimes it’s also described as a bit more fragrant. It is having a moment and is certainly worth a try.
All is not lost, though. Here are three regions that are holding value and keeping price points low and quality high.
