This is the first installment of a three-part series on the wines from Southwest France, a huge area that begins at the Basque border and runs northeast past Toulouse, all the way to Rodez in the Aveyron department. Driving on the autoroute at 70 miles an hour, this west-to-east journey of 360 miles would take approximately 5 hours. To put this into perspective, driving from Chablis to Mâcon in Burgundy takes about half…
In early November, the Guild of Sommeliers invited ten candidates for the Court of Master Sommeliers' 2014 Advanced Exam to spend three days in Napa and Sonoma counties. The event's primary sponsor was Jackson Family Estates' Spire Collection, and the trip to wine country included visits to some of the portfolio's top wineries, including Vérité and Cardinale, and some excellent stops in the vineyards of Howell Mountain…
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in United States and the second-largest in California, yet it rarely garners a mention in the gastronomic press. The climate is pretty much perfect year-round, there is a historic walkable downtown less than a 10-minute cab ride from the airport, you're never far from a beach, a taco, an orca or a mating lemur, and you can get good seats to a visiting Giants baseball game at a fraction…
Miles Macquarrie of Kimball House (Decatur, GA); verte and blanche absinthe
A couple of weeks ago, leaning at a far corner of the grand bar that forms one half of spanking new Atlanta restaurant Kimball House, resident cocktail mind Miles Macquarrie and I got talking about absinthe, its history, the associated lore, and what on earth to do with it.
The spirit carries a lot of baggage from its former heyday, and there…
As sommeliers, it is our job to take the nebulous proposition for a "nice, dry, red" and turn it into a wonderful, expected or unexpected glass of wine. I know that my mind starts to race, and after a mini-oenophilic interview—"what were you thinking...
In September 2013, the Guild of Sommeliers sent several of our members to the region of Alto Adige for an immersion in its culture and wines. Following is their collective report on the region.
Versoaln: “The Oldest Vine in the World”By Mark Thostesen
A long, twisting drive up winding mountain roads provides vistas of sunset-drenched vineyards and foggy apple orchards. Alexandra, our local guide, speaks animatedly…
During my time in the food and wine world in New York City, Chicago and Aspen, I always thought that Las Vegas would be the last place I would ever end up working. That's where sommeliers go to die. After moving here seven years ago, my opinion certainly has changed...either that or I am already in heaven. Now I can understand why some wine people wouldn't want to sell '82 Bordeaux and DRC on a nightly basis, but why…