The spotlight of Thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude—for the bounty and for the providers. This extends to every phase of the celebration, family to feast, and in the rush of preparation, wines either get pushed to a back-burner or,…
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Posted on 2021.11.19 in Côte Chalonnaise, Givry, Beaujolais-Villages, France, Beaujolais, Spain DO, Penedes, Burgundy, Wine-Aid Packages, Southern Rhone, Navarra, Alsace  | Read more...
Wine is evolution. The flavors behind that simple metaphor are as vast as any spectrum; it can be seen in grape vines aging gracefully, producing fruit that is increasingly concentrated and complex—it is obvious when a vigneron hones the craft…
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Posted on 2021.10.16 in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Southern Rhone  | Read more...
From the unblemished beauty of Mediterranean seascapes to the leafy boulevards of Barcelona—a port that has outgrown its geography—Catalunya is a breeding ground for talent. With each detail hooked to history and every footprint pushing toward the future, Catalan creators…
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Posted on 2021.09.10 in France, Spain DO, Penedes, Wine-Aid Packages, Catalunya  | Read more...
With apologies to Mr. Shakespeare, a rosé by any other name would probably be sweeter. The fortunes of pink wine have risen and fallen with consumer tastes, especially in the United States, where rosé has endured a shunning for being…
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Posted on 2021.08.20 in Chinon, France, Bordeaux, Beaujolais, Wine-Aid Packages, Loire, Provence, Southern Rhone  | Read more...
Lieux-dits are a wine lover’s Google Earth; a satellite view of an appellation focused on a tiny, representative parcel. Not all vineyards have lieux-dits, and among those that do, not all are created equal. In general, it’s a term that…
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Posted on 2021.08.15 in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France, Wine-Aid Packages, Southern Rhone  | Read more...
Exploring the French Backcountry Along the Route of ‘Tour de France’ in Ten Stages. The ‘Tricolore’ in Red, White and Rosé. The terrain is rough but the terroir is sweet! The Tour de France was founded in 1903—which, for the…
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Posted on 2021.07.16 in Jura, Jura, Savoie, Bordeaux, France, Burgundy, Wine-Aid Packages, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, Southern Rhone, Northern Rhone  | Read more...
Tastes in wine run hot and cold and so do the climates that produce them. Nearly every commercial vine on earth is grown between 30° – 50° latitude (both north and south), but that range offers an almost endless array…
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Posted on 2021.07.02 in France, Wine-Aid Packages, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, Provence  | Read more...
If you took the wine savvy of France, blended it with the climate of the Italian Riviera and stirred in the heritage of Greece, you might think you’d just created the Valhalla of Viniculture—a test tube appellation with Goldilocks conditions…
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Posted on 2021.06.01 in France, Corsica  | Read more...
Many a storied French château can trace their origins to the Romans—far fewer can boast a heritage dating back to the Greeks. But Marseilles—founded in the Sixth Century BCE as Massalia—is a scant seventy miles south of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and it…
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Posted on 2021.04.29 in France, Wine-Aid Packages, Southern Rhone  | Read more...
Charming Provence. Between olive groves and pine forests the rocky landscape is wild with the fragrant garrigue that marks its wines. This picturesque southern French region on the Côte d’Azur is famous for its rosé, but with a little bit…
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Posted on 2021.03.14 in France, Saturday Sips Review Club, Provence  | Read more...