If you think cellaring wine is the hobby of an expert connoisseur, think again. With some research on how to choose wines for ageing and by following a few golden rules, you might find yourself opening a bottle of truly spectacular wine a few years down the road. When it comes to ageing wine, acidity is important since wine loses acidity with time. Therefore a wine containing high acidity can be cellared. Red wine also ages beautifully due to the polyphenols in the wine, which limits the chemical reactions that...

Spring time calls for fun, easy-to-drink wines, with a minerality that is refreshing and clean,reminding one of green grass, citrus fruits and flowers awakening after a long sleep in the cold. Flirty, light and aromatic, what a wonderful way to welcome spring. White wine tastes best when the days become longer and the sun finally shines through. Albariño is always a good bet. Pagos del Rey’s Pulpo Albariño is smooth to drink, pairing superbly well with appetizers and snacks as well as seafood and pasta. This is a mild-bodied wine with...

Let’s take a closer look at both red and white Zinfandel wine and learn the secrets to picking out your favorite styles. Why is White Zinfandel so popular? White Zinfandel is often the very first wine someone tries. Today, close to 85% of the total Zinfandel production is White Zin! As much as wine snobs bash it, White Zinfandel offers everything a beginner might want: low alcohol – 9-10% ABV low calories – 125 calories per 6 oz. serving pleasing sweet taste At $5 a bottle White Zinfandels taste fine,...

New Year’s Resolutions don’t all have to be about losing weight and going to the gym. Why not this year make some resolutions that you’ll stick to? Obviously if you’re here reading this, then you love wine so I say that we all make resolutions that we’ll stick to because they’re on a topic we love – wine! As they say, life’s too short to drink bad wine – so here’s a dozen wine New Year Resolutions to make the year ahead a good one (and maybe a little bit...

Not everyone eats turkey on Thanksgiving or roast beef on Christmas, but the theme of winter seasonal vegetables and roasted foods are common. So what are the best wines for the holidays? Instead of listing brands, this article focuses on the food pairing methodology that leads to the best pairings. You’ll be able to choose your holiday wine like a pro! Christmas Wine There are several classic dishes served at Christmas including: Ham Turkey Roast Beef Winter Vegetables and roasted sides including gratin and casserole Since Christmas has several traditional...

Merlot, which in French means The Little Blackbird, is the second most popular red grape in America (after Cabernet Sauvignon). Known for being soft, ripe and elegant, most Merlots are easy drinking reds that go well both with food as well as on their own. This is an approachable grape varietal and is often recommended as the first red wine someone new to red wine should drink. It is believed that the first time the grape was used in making wine was in the late 1700s when a French winemaker...

International Pinotage Day celebrates the uniquely South African grape – merging Pinot Noir and Hermitage (Cinsaut) grapes. Pinotage is one of these varieties that are almost only grown in one single country. In the case of Pinotage the only country where you will find it is in South Africa. It is also unusual in that it is a very recent grape variety. It is not an ancient domestic variety. In fact, Pinotage was created by Abraham Izak Perold in 1925. He was professor of viticulture at the Stellenbosch University. He...

Whatever your feelings on Columbus Day — beyond the profound sense of joy if you do indeed get the day off — it’s hard not to be impressed by those sea voyages of yore. You know, the whole challenging-an-angry-sea thing with no certain sense of success, let alone safety; also the whole thing about who was wearing whose eyepatch and didn’t return it, etc. But when we do harken back to those brave, adventurous days, we wonder how sailors could steel themselves for that voyage into uncertain waters. Our assumption (not...

Grenache is that overlooked friend you always under appreciate. You know the one: You always forget about them until you bump into them at a party, but when you do, you have a great time. But today, overlook that friend no more, because it’s International Grenache Day. Whether you drink wines in which Grenache plays a supporting role, or you purposely seek out Grenache-based wine, you need to know more about it. It’s incredibly diverse, widespread and has a reputation for making every other grape around it perform better. Grab...

Does Cabernet Sauvignon really need a day? It’s already one of the most popular wine grapes in the world, and it’s also best friends with steak. Yes and not just because Cabernet is one of the most reliable, hearty, assertively flavorful wine grapes out there (ensuring that everyone all over the world can get a nice glass of dry red wine). Sure, Cabernet Sauvignon is a strong grape with awesomely thick skin and strong character. But lest what makes it special becomes just another wine caricature, we’re taking a little...