Until I read the Harriet Lembeck article on Furmint (January 2015, Beverage Dynamics), I thought it was a new Swiss chocolate/mint truffle. Lembeck references Bordeaux’s Samuel Tinon a sweet wine maker, who moved to the Tokaji region of Hungary, eager to make wine with botrytis cinera, or noble rot. Unfortunately for Tinon, because of climate […]
Mr. Trump: We Need Mexico. Tequila!
The year was 2000, and bartenders were desperate. The announcements heralded a serious crisis in Mexico: the world supply of tequila was about to disappear. OMG. There was a temporary shortage of blue agave, the pineapple-type plant that gives birth to tequila and many small distilleries closed their doors. The perception of an eminent disaster […]
The Leopard des Artistes proudly resides on Manhattan’s Westside
There is eating (putting food into your mouth, chewing and swallowing) and then there is dining (the art, experience and cultural aspect of eating). If the objective is to eat, head to Burger King; however, if the idea is to dine in an elegant space, with near perfect service and delicious Italian cuisine, I am […]
Kosher Wines: Competitive Advantage
Gone are the days when kosher wine tasted like melted popsicles. Fortunately for oenophiles kosher wines options have expanded beyond sweet Concord grapes of Manischevitz fame. The 1980s heralded the revival of the Israeli wine industry and today kosher wine has moved into a premium category. Kosher wines are produced throughout the world (including Israel, […]
Italian Barolo and Barbaresco Wine: Not for the Timid
Italy recently showcased their wines in New York. Forget about Fashion Week, it is Italian Wine Week and Vinitaly International that should take center stage and receive the media coverage that skirts and dresses attract. Italian Wine Week brings wine growers, wine makers, wine buyers, wine sellers, wine drinkers, wine educators, and journalists to a […]
Harriet Lembeck: Dean and Pioneer Wine and Spirits Education
Wine. An Art and a Science Wine is more than grapes, terroir, weather, science and luck. If it were, wines would be made in a laboratory and not on the hills and dales of villages and communities around the world. Because the production of wine is complex and the resulting beverage is more than “something […]
Memo to self: Drink more Italian wine
Fortunately for Italy, many Americans drink Italian wines (32.4 percent) as it generates $1.65 billion (January – November 2016) for the Italian economy. In fact, Americans consumed 5.9 percent more Italian wines in 2016 than they did in 2015. People who live in New York, California, Florida, Illinois and Texas drive consumption, representing 50 percent of […]
Tea. Good for you? Perhaps!
Grands Crus de Bordeaux: Delicious! An Understatement
Union Des Grand Crus de Bordeaux The Union includes 134 chateaux who are passionate about the unique personalities of their Bordeaux wines – along with 6 million French and international visitors who found their way to this special part of France in 2014. More than 50 percent of the travelers selected the destination primarily for […]
Montalcino, Italy: At Home With Brunello, Rosso, Moscadello and Sant’Antimo
The name of this Italian hill town in Tuscany, Montalcino, is derived from the Latin “Mons Ilcinnus,” or mountain of holm oak and it is the oak tree that appears on the commune’s logo. In the Middle Ages (5th – 15 century), the area was dotted with tanneries used for shoes and leather goods. Today […]