Wine Recommendations

The Burgundy region of France makes some of the best wines in the world. The reds are mostly made from Pinot Noir and the whites are made from Chardonnay. And, the region of Beaujolais, whose wines are made from the Gamay grape, is also part of Burgundy. I was lucky enough to be able to sample some...

Sherry (the wine from Spain) can be confusing to understand, much less choosing a bottle in a store. Like most things in life, however, choosing a bottle of Sherry can be understood once one realizes at almost every step, it’s about dividing the choices into two categories and moving on. Of course...

List of the top ten Pinot Noirs from the US that we opened in 2019.

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...