Riesling Spätlese Feinherb, Leiwener Laurentiuslay, St Urbans-Hof, 2008. Happy Holidays, everyone.

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Jay Miller is out at Wine Advocate.  Claiming innocence in a payola scandal that has rifled through the rolling hills of Spain and the wine community as a whole, Mr. Miller has stepped down from his role as editor of Spain, South America, and the Pacific Northwest.  It’s a fascinating story of claims of strong-arm tactics, [...]

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St. Nicholas de Bourgueil (100% Cabernet Franc), La Mine, Yannick Amarault, 2008, Loire Valley Southampton Publick House, Vic (antique porter aged in oak), New York Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge (100% Pinot Noir), Phillipe Colin, 2008, Côte de Beaune

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Our apartment is filled to the brim with boxes of our belongings as we prepare to move out for bigger digs down the block.  Got an organic chicken roasting in the oven and some cauliflower and potatoes on deck.  What better time than now to crack some damn bubbly? Based in the North Fork of [...]

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Mannie Berk of the Rare Wine Co. held a wee little Madeira dinner tonight at Hearth—and by “wee” I mean the “sickest line-up of old wines I’ve ever beheld in person.” I stood by somewhat slack-jawed as he pulled these incredibly old bottles out of his knapsack like a kid unloads his lunch box and [...]

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I found this clip today while rifling through the videos from our Europe trip.  Here, we sit in France’s Southern Rhone Valley on the famed hill of Hermitage. **Wikipedia’s post about the history of the hill:  “According to legend, the Knight Gaspard de Stérimberg returned home wounded in 1224 from the Albigensian Crusade and was [...]

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I was fortunate enough to lead New York Post writer, Chris Erikson, through a tasting last week in anticipation of NY Cider Week; we had a blast (final article above–click to enlarge). Over the course of two hours, I poured eight different hard ciders from around the world and circled back to illustrate how the [...]

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After months of hard work, followed by weeks of stress and feeling like our world had been placed between the plates of a slowly tightening vice, we are coming up for air and the new Terroir Murray Hill is prepared to open its doors.  Minutes ago, I was fortunate enough to drink the first beer [...]

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On March 29th, 2011, Kat and I landed in Paris. For the next 93 days, we wandered through the backroads of Europe on a wine and beer journey we had dreamed about for years. While there are many lenses we can see this trip through (and trust us, with over 1500 video clips on our [...]

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Le Pousseur (100% Syrah), Bonny Doon Vineyard, 2008, Central Coast (13.5% abv) There is something transporting about this wine, like being wrapped up in a harlot’s velvet shawl. You enter the room somewhat willingly, thinking you know what you’re in store for, wanting to keep it light and fun, only to find your mind and [...]

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If you look around at the wine, beer and spirits media, the “Summer Drinking Recommendations” are ubiquitous. They’re like Ray Bans and Katy Perry songs–turn to the left, you got em.  Step out of the subway?  Bam!  Two people wearing Ray Bans greet you at the top of the stairs. And walk into any bar, [...]

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(I took this picture on June 13, 2011 at 12:52 pm) The town of Piesport lies in the Mittlemosel subregion of the Mosel wine region in Germany (you can see the white chapel at the town’s center in the far-left side of the picture).  Here, the Mosel river’s walls rise up to 200 meters (700 feet) in some [...]

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Tonight, I finally caught up on my Tour de France 2011 footage.  Watching Cadel Evans fly by the Arc De Triomphe on the way to becoming the first Australian to win the Tour was a moving sight. (It was further enhanced by a couple of German friends left over from the Summer of Riesling concert:  [...]

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I was saddened to read that powerhouse Australian winery, Mollydooker, lost over $1,000,000 worth of their 2010 Velvet Glove Shiraz.  And in a forklift accident, no less (462 cases fell 20 feet while being loaded onto a ship). Australian fine wine needs all the help it can get and this bonehead move isn’t helping the [...]

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