If there is one event in New York that should not be missed, it is the Kosher Food & Wine Experience sponsored by Royal Wine Corp. (aka Kedem). Over the past 13 years, Royal has provided the opportunity for thousands to taste, sip, and enjoy global Kosher cuisine, wines, and spirits, and the New York […]
Death by Vacation: Think you’re safe?
No one plans to die on a vacation! We have learned to take precautions that will keep sickness and death at bay. We know to pack handwipes for cruising and OTC meds while traveling in Europe, Asia and Africa. We have been alerted to avoid contaminated water and reused water bottles, date rape drugs, and sharing […]
Italy: Wines of Emilia-Romagna
Located in northern Italy, Emilia-Romagna is a prolific wine region covering more than 136,000 acres under vine (2010). The 15-mile area spans almost the entire width of the northern Italian peninsula and is located between Tuscany (to the south) Lombardy and Veneto (to the north) and the Adriatic Sea (to the east). This unique region […]
State of Beer @ the American Museum of Natural History
Many museums have upped their game over the last few years, adding gourmet restaurants and boutique shopping (i.e., MOMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art); however, not many are offering visitors an academically-approved path to the drinking of beer. American Museum of Natural History (AMNH): In-house Authors A Natural History of Beer was written by Dr. Ian […]
Tasting wines, blind
Tasting Blind Wine industry professionals (i.e., winemakers, writers, sommeliers, researchers, educators, buyers, sellers, importers, sales managers) have many ways to spend their days: Harvesting grapes, meeting with customers, researching trends, wine tastings, and, one of my favorites, joining a group for a blind wine event. A few days ago, I spent a grey New York […]
Would you travel nude or naked?
Face Forward. Please! Traveling sucks the moisture out of our skin! We may start the journey looking terrific and deplane looking a total wreck because of the anxiety of getting to and through airports and security, the questions on whether the flight will depart/land on-time without incident, the dismay caused by the dry air on […]
Spanish winery architect brings attention to Baigorri wines
There are wineries and then there is Baigorri (started in 2000), currently owned by Pedro Martinez Hernandez. This Rioja winery is an outstanding architectural achievement and engineering marvel, set in a beautiful landscape that creates the perfect environment for the production and enjoyment of world-class wines. Located between Logrono and Laguardia, in the town of […]
Spain’s secret: Txakoli wines
The first mention of Txakoli (pronounced cha-ko-lee) wines dates back to 1520. The wine was locally consumed and rarely enjoyed beyond Basque Country borders. Historically, home-made in baserris (Basque farm houses), it was considered low-quality wine, and frequently used as barter between neighbors. It was fermented in old oak barrels and carried with it a […]
Drink like a New Yorker
NY drinks NY wines: History and hybrids
New York Wines: Disaster in the Beginning Historians have documented the fact that grapes were first introduced to New York by the Dutch (1647-1664); sadly, the crops failed. A few years later, the French Huguenot settlers in Ulster County tried to plant European varietals (1667) and they too were unsuccessful. William Robert Prince (1795—1869) Finally, […]