Posted in Wine on Jul 24th, 2011
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 [...]
Ecstatic to be leaving Europe today.
Posted in Beer, NYC Events, Reviews, Spirits, Wine on Jun 28th, 2011
Greetings from Amsterdam (and no, I am not writing you from a smoke-filled coffee shop). Tomorrow, we return to NYC after 93 days in Europe. Along the way, we have met countless inspiring artisans making wine, beer and spirits in the name of craftsmanship. They toil away in nooks around the world, battling the forces [...]
As we wind our way through the beer roads of Belgium, I must take a moment to pay homage to my colleagues back in NYC. While we’re chasing down the treasures of the Trappist monks and meeting the ambient yeasts of Brussels’ Lambics, they’re gearing up to light the Olympic torch tonight for the greatest [...]
Posted in Wine on Jun 19th, 2011
The Paulinshof estate lies in Kesten, Germany, on a lazy stretch of the Mosel River. The first historical records for the estate vineyards date back to 936 when it was owned by the St Paulin church in Trier. Since the 1960′s, its been owned by the Jüngling family. Here is a pic I took of [...]
Posted in Wine on Jun 16th, 2011
For some, it is just a steep hill covered in vines. But for geeks like me, it is the Holy Grail of vineyards. And it goes by one name: the “Doctor“. Two days ago, we climbed it. One of the most famous vineyards in all of Germany, it is a perfectly south-facing slope situated above [...]
Rüdesheim is a wine town. Surrounded by vineyards and perched at the banks of the Rhine River, it is spectacular to see. For two nights, we sat on our hotel balcony watching the boats pass and the sun set over the water (and a ridiculous amount of trains, tracks and barges rumble past–the Rhine is, [...]
Posted in Wine on Jun 12th, 2011
“The production of this wine is a milestone in my life as a wine-grower and marks a break with the variety-over-Terroir dominance under which the Alsace region has suffered so greatly for the past 100 years.” – Jean-Michel Deiss While most of the winemakers of Alsace make single-variety wines from single plots of land, Domaine [...]
Posted in Wine on Jun 4th, 2011
I’m addicted. Unique to Austria, heuriges are informal dining & drinking venues usually attached to a winemaker’s house. Traditionally, only their latest vintage of wine is served; the food is cold and includes breads, soups, sausages and salads all homemade on the premises. You will find them all over the country, with some bordering on [...]
Posted in G&G Videos, Wine on May 30th, 2011
On a sunny day this April, we made our way to the château of winemaker, Nicolas Joly*, in France’s Loire Valley. What transpired was the greatest navigational nightmare I’ve ever fallen prey to. After hours of being squawked at by a maniacal GPS device, we finally rolled up to his estate…this video documents our day [...]
Posted in Wine on May 30th, 2011
There is a strange, new law in Austria: Any one who does NOT eat Wiener Schnitzel with a glass of Gruner Veltliner on their first night in the country, is to be dragged from their hotel and flogged publicly in the town square. Luckily, we had advance notice of this law.
Posted in Wine on May 23rd, 2011
At Filistron restaurant last night, the following quote appeared on the menu: “Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may wet my mind and say something clever” – Aristophanes, 5th century BC And, yes, for those observant ones in the group, that IS the Parthenon in the background of this picture. Greece, [...]
Posted in Wine on May 19th, 2011
After sailing between islands, tromping over a volcano, swimming in a hot spring and eating fresh calamari straight off the grill, nothing satisfies like a cool glass of Assyrtiko. At least that’s what I always say…
Posted in Wine on May 17th, 2011
Santorini is mind-bogglingly beautiful…kind of like Tattoine, but on top of a volcano. Still searching for the Mos Eisley Cantina… But, in the meantime, the German Sekt waiting in the fridge was a nice touch.
Posted in Wine on May 12th, 2011
Our last night in Italy, and after lugging it around for a week, we cracked this beauty. Wise before getting three hours of sleep before catching a taxi at 5 am? Did I mention this is a fuckin Super Tuscan?! Come on, people!
