ShareIn my mind, there’s only one thing wrong with a week’s vacation in the Caribbean, and that’s the price of a good bottle of wine. Not to mention the availability. In every store and on every wine list in San Pedro, Belize, you’ll see wines from nearly every continent, but only the most industrial, inexpensive [...]

ShareThe last time I drank a Muscadet, it should have been under an auspicious star, since I was in Half Moon Bay, California, at the Ritz Carlton.
Because it was my birthday and I really needed some pampering, Alice and I splurged. Let me just say, it was a weekend of service mishaps, and the experience [...]

ShareThese are my five keys to loving Italian wine, distilled from my five-class course with Luca of Zigzando wines:
1. Eat, Drink, and be Maria
Italian wines are food wines. They are made to be enjoyed during a meal. That’s why they tend to be light to medium bodied in weight, so their flavors can complement rather [...]

ShareThis deeply garnet-colored beauty — is that a touch of black? — is introduced by a distinctly smoky aroma mixed with loads of black fruit. But the smoke turns out to be a mixed signal; I thought it meant we were dealing with a wine that had spent some time in oak, but no, it [...]

ShareI love Italian wine but rarely get to drink it. I think it’s because I’m married to woman with an American palate (the bigger and fruitier the better) and surrounded by friends who, when the wine list comes, go straight to Bordeaux. At home, I have to be persistent (or sneaky) to get a good [...]

Share(For my complete report on South African wines, click here)
Last year’s most exciting trip to wine country, for me, was to South Africa — even over Bordeaux. True, the wines weren’t as monumental, but the scenery, the dark-humored South Africans, and the great prices really changed the way I feel about wine. I have a [...]