Wine Recommendations

In California the best-known Pinot Noir producing area is, by far, Sonoma’s Russian River Valley. In Oregon it’s the Willamette Valley. The Willamette has just under 16,000 acres of Pinot Noir planted. The next most planted grape here? Pinot Gris, with less than 4,000 acres, so Pinot Noir is...

The top Cabernet Sauvignon tasted and reviewed by Loren Sonkin in 2019.

Perhaps one of the worst professions in America today is to be a farmer. A constant stream of unknowns pummels you: Rainfall (too much or too little), fluctuating crop prices, expensive farming equipment, a fickle buying public, bank loans, a host of pests destroying your crop, erratic subsidies...

Imagine your friends describe you as “ethereal, finicky, difficult, sensitive, troublesome,” and even “persnickety.” This might prompt you to read a number of self-help books – but Pinot Noir is OK with itself. At the 2019 iteration of the World of Pinot Noir, a celebration of all Pinot all the...

Chardonnay seems like a one-trick pony with a bad leg. And in wine, as in life, reality is irrelevant and perception is power. Enter Chardonnay, the grape everyone loves to hate. In the early 2000s the “Anything But Chardonnay” movement (albeit lackluster and myopic from the start) promoted exactly...

Port: It confuses most and only satisfies some. It is misunderstood; much maligned and yet offers one of the best drinking experiences on the planet. It’s easy to misconstrue Port as merely a sweet one-trick-pony. But true Port from the Douro Valley in Portugal is not a one-trick anything. Since...

It’s that time again. As the end of the year draws near, it is natural to look back over the past year. That includes considering the wines enjoyed this past year. Drinking wine involves so many qualities. What we drank, who we drank wine with and when we drank them. The “best” wines aren’t always...

The French may have invented sparkling wine, hailing from the Champagne region of France, but every wine producing country has their own version of bubbles: Cava in Spain, Prosecco in Italy, sparkling in America. “Champagne is the Mecca of all sparkling wine lovers, with a rich history,” says...

For the last six years, October has been designated as (hashtag) MerlotMe, a month long campaign to get people to drink more Merlot. Don’t people already drink Merlot? Well, yes, it’s the second most planted red grape behind Cabernet Sauvignon. Here in the US there’s still residual Sideways Merlot...