Monthly Archives: October 2024

"Wine is all about celebration,” said Daniel Johnnes during a recent wine pairing dinner at Charlie Bird in lower Manhattan. "The joy is in sharing it with neighbors and the community." Johnnes is the man behind the world-renowned La Paulée fe...

Leon Karatsalos, co-founder of Gaia Winery, is a pioneer in the modern revival of Greek wine, with a vision that draws deeply from Ancient Greece’s rich viticultural history. Established in 1994 by Karatsalos and fellow winemaker Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, Gaia Winery has become a leader in e...

“Wine, at the heart of it, is agriculture.” That was what Brian Talley told us as we wrapped up our tasting.

He says this with a certain tone of endearment. As proprietor of Talley Vineyards, Brian has been at the helm since 1991, growing it from essentially a side project started by his father to become the benchmark winery of San Luis Obispo (SLO) Coast today. His identity, however, is much simpler - a farmer.

We understand that baseball and wine is, unfortunately, an odd pairing. We wrote last year that the NBA and many of its players have fully embraced wine. Baseball, not so much. While there are some players who love wine – Rusty Staub of the Expos and Mets was the first we recall, long-time manager Dusty Baker has a winery, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is a partner in the Red Stitch wine brand and former Cubs manager Joe Maddon is a huge fan -- baseball and beer seem synonymous.

Grape Collective talks to Dimitris Skouras about the evolution of wine production in Greece.

Something we often complain about is the price tags of wine. And it’s totally understandable - wine, on the surface, is just fermented grape juice bottled in a glass container. How hard can it be to consistently grow grapes, make wine, and sell to customers at a low price while still allowing the families who make the wines to earn a decent living? 

We remember when New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was new and exciting. It was vibrant and pure. Drinking it was like ringing a bell. In time, too many became predictable and boring. They became paint-by-numbers wines — pleasant enough, but they could have been created in an AI lab if AI could create wine (hmmmm). But a few weeks ago, we went to a portfolio tasting of Vintus New York, an offshoot of the 20-year-old importer and wholesaler of family-owned, conscientiously made wineries around the world. There were hundreds of wines, so we split up, as usual. At some point, Dottie came over, grabbed John and said, “You have to taste this New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.” John was skeptical, but, hey, we’ve been married 50 years so off he went.