Wine Culture

Le Marche (pronounced lay Mar-kay) is a region in central Italy that borders the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Apennines to the west. Le Marche borders Emilia-Romagna to the north, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio to the west, and Abruzzi to the south. The terrain is mostly hills and mountains once you get away from the coast. The area has a long history matching most of the historic conquests of Italy: it was occupied by the Gaul’s, colonized by the Romans, later it was invaded by the Goths and Lombard’s, then by Charlemagne. It was then mostly a papal state before finally being annexed in the mid-1800’s by the kingdom of Italy.

Wines and mines have been part of Bierzo’s history since Roman times. After the remains of Saint James were discovered in the ninth century, pilgrims, too, became part of Bierzo’s heritage. In fact, some locals will tell you that the Mencía grapes grown in Bierzo were first brought to the region by pilgrims headed toward the famous cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where Saint James is buried. Monks who came to Bierzo from France to serve the pilgrims expanded the area’s vineyards. The history of Bierzo is tied to its vineyards, mineral resources and monastic tradition.

Many years ago, a Navy friend brought us a bottle of German wine as a hostess gift. Brian was elated because he’d found this wine in the U.S. I was surprised to discover that the gift was German red wine from a region I’d never heard of, the Ahr. No surprise, Brian told us – the Ahr is a very small wine region that produces mostly red wines, so it’s very hard to find Ahr wines outside of Germany.

The dog days of summer are once again upon us. Whether your remedy to beat the heat is a cool pool, a shade tree, or a blasting air conditioner, it always helps to have a relaxing beverage to help ease the pain. IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to recommend refreshing white wines for those hot summer nights: " On a hot summer evening, I look for a chilled white wine. I also find that if the wine has a bit of sweetness, it offsets the heat a bit. My go-to wines on these evenings tend to be Rieslings. Rieslings are one of the most versatile wines for matching with food. They are especially great with light summer fare such as a salad or fish or fruit. They also make easy sipping on their own.

Even if you’ve never heard of any other Spanish wine, chances are you’ve heard about cava. This is due to the huge international presence of cava sparkling wines. Freixenet and Cordoníu are the two best-known producers of cava and both wineries have done a marvelous job of marketing Spain’s sparkling wines outside of their home country. In fact, Spain exports more than half of the sparkling wines it produces, according to the Peñin Guide to Spanish Wine 2007 .

Rome is one of the great cities of the world. It has been for over two thousand years, and continues to be to this day. If there is a wine that is synonymous with Rome, it is Frascati. This wine has been produced in the countryside around Rome for almost two thousand years.

Shaquille O’Neal. Ann Coulter. Jackson Pollack. James Carville. Mark Cuban. Igor Stravinsky. Noam Chomsky. Andy Warhol. Andre the Giant. In life, the biggest and loudest among us get the most attention – while finesse and nuance, toiling in relative obscurity, float in the choppy wake of incendiary, splashy, larger-than-life personalities.

While beer is often the refreshing beverage of choice on the 4th of July, wine is increasingly more popular as a relaxing summertime refreshment. With wine's increase in popularity comes the challenge of finding a wine to serve that not only beats the heat, but pairs well with typical picnic fare. IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts for their thoughts on what wine to serve on the Fourth of July: "There is one wine that surely must be the choice for the fourth of July - Madeira. Madeira is the wine that was used by the Founding Father's to Toast the Declaration of Independence. Betsy Ross had a side table with a glass of wine on it when she was sewing the flag. It was used to Toast the Constitution and George Washington drank a pint of Madeira every day for dinner. It is also very convenient because Madeira cannot be harmed by the hot sun and the July heat. I vote that Madeira be adopted as the OFFICIAL July 4th beverage. By the way, it is very important to drink TRUE Madeira from the island of Madeira and not confuse it with wines that are made in America for cooking. True Madeira is heated to simulate the voyage between Europe and America when the wine was used as ballast in the boat holds, where they discovered that the intense heat improved the wine. Try the Broadbent Madeira Broadbent 10 year Malmsey Madeira at about $44 a bottle or the Broadbent 5 year Reserve at $25. Once you've opened a bottle, it never goes off. It also goes well with any food. Great with hamburgers, even with pickles!" - Bartholomew Broadbent , CEO, Broadbent Selections, San Francisco

Laely Heron (Click Image to Enlarge) Laely Heron's life reads like that of a character in a James Bond flick. Raised by adventure seeking parents, Laely spent her childhood moving from one exciting place to another -Algeria one year, Singapore the next- with over a dozen different places of residence by the time she graduated high school. College found Laely at the University of Colorado but wanderlust soon took her to Bordeaux to study oenology. The end result was a young woman with a nose for the unique customs, flavors, and scents that differentiate cultures. Not surprisingly, a wine career ensued. Adventurous, entrepreneurial, talented, ambitious and, let’s face it, stunningly beautiful, the only thing missing is a secret identity and a pistol in her boot and Laely Heron could very well be a Bond girl. Action flicks aside, today Laely Heron is pushing the envelope in the wine industry as she endeavors to reshape the image of the “cult“ winemaker as one who makes high quality, ambitious, and affordable wines. Thanks to Laely for chatting with IntoWine.

Say “Oregon” and Pinot Noir comes to mind. Argentina? Malbec. And who can say “Shiraz” without thinking of Australia? But what grape will Washington wine country claim as it’s own as it expands in production and popularity? There are so many red treasures in this state, sometimes it is hard to say. But after my luscious Saturday tasting, I’m thinking Syrah and Merlot may duke it out for the prize.