Nancy Parode is a freelance writer, Navy spouse and avid traveler. Her travel and home education articles have been published in magazines and newspapers as well as online. She has lived in Italy and Ireland and traveled extensively in Europe and the United States. Nancy and her family currently live in Maryland.
Nancy Parode Thinks:
A fair restaurant corkage fee is:
A tell-tale sign of a wine snob is:
Someone who won't let anyone else share opinions in a conversation about wine.
The wine region I most want to visit:
Bordeaux in France and Rioja, La Mancha and Jerez in Spain. Of course, I want to go back to every region I've ever visited, too!
My "wish list" of wines I want to acquire soon:
I'm looking at summer white wines right now...Albariños from Spain, Fiano di Avellinos from Italy...and I'd love to try some new dry rosés from the Loire Valley.
My biggest wine pet peeve:
Wines that are overpriced because they are popular or have a well-known name. Oh, and corks that break. I'm a big fan of screw tops and those cool German glass stoppers.
My favorite wine quote:
"I feast on bread and wine, and feasts they are." - Michelangelo
My dream wine to one day taste or own:
I'd love to own some of the Mosel's best rieslings, perhaps from Markus Molitor. Once, long ago, I tried a red wine from the Ahr region of Germany and it was wonderful. Ahr wines are almost impossible to find in the U.S., but I'd happily add Ahr reds to my collection.
The best wines I have ever tasted:
You know, I tend to love the wines that go with amazing meals and happy times spent with friends. To me, where and with whom you drink wine becomes part of the experience. I do love the Mosel's amazing rieslings and the amazing way Fiano di Avellino (perhaps a Feudi di San Gregorio or Mastroberardino) pairs with the bold seafood dishes you find in Naples and the surrounding seaside towns. I'm a lot more about the entire wine experience and much less interested in labels, price tags and scores. But that's just me.
The people with whom I most often enjoy wine:
My husband, my friends Gene and Sherry, who share my love of southern Italy, and my husband's wine aficionado colleagues.
The last wine I had that I absolutely loved:
A beautiful Auxerrois from Weingut Adam Müller in Leimen, Germany...we tried it in the vineyard...you can read about it here .
What I think of the movie Sideways:
My thoughts on the 100 point rating scale made famous by Robert Parker and emulated by seemingly everyone:
It can help newcomers to the world of wine look for subtle differences among wines, but it can also play too great a role in wine-buying decisions. Many people buy wines for the Parker points and not because they actually like the wines.
My wine travels have taken me to the following wine regions:
Oh, wow. Napa and Sonoma Valleys, every region of Italy, France's Loire Valley, Burgundy and Alsace, Germany's Mosel, Baden, Franken, Pfalz, Rheinhessen, Rheingau, Nahe and Württemberg; various parts of Maryland and Virginia...it's a long list.
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