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The sparkling wines of Toscana, Italy
As aptly described on tripadvisor.com, "The achingly beautiful Tuscany region of Italy is a touchstone of art, food, and culture. Made up of stunning countrysides and distinguished cities, Tuscany is...
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A tasting of Martin Woods (McMinnville, Oregon) wines: Fruit sources
Swilery, one of my favorite hometown wine bars, has been working with its distributors to provide focused tastings with artisanal winemakers from around the world. A case in point -- and the subject of...
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Constructing the wines of Martin Woods Winery (McMinnville, Oregon)
The high quality of the Martin Woods' wines, as tasted at Swirlery, set me on a mission to elaborate the environment and the processes that yielded these sterling wines. In my first post on the topic,...
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Spanish wines on the cutting edge: Ribeira Sacra's Guímaro Finca Meixemán 2017
What is the new face of Spanish wines as the modernist movement retreats? According to panelists in a seminar titled Wines on the Cutting Edge, a part of Wines from Spain's Great Match Miami (November...
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The Sparkling wines of Umbria, Italy
Umbria, one of the smallest of the Italian regions, lies almost dead center on the peninsula and is the only region that does not border on a body of water or a country.Italian regions map with Umbria...
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David Ramey and Aaron Pott: A brief comparison of the trajectories of these...
David Ramey and Aaron Pott are numbered among the most respected American winemakers and both craft some of the most sought-after domestic wines (primarily Chardonnays for Ramey and Cabernet Sauvignons...
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Aaron Pott (Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley) and his wines show why they are the talk...
I recently had the pleasure of tasting a selection of Aaron Pott wines at an Alfond-Inn event organized and hosted by his Florida Distributor, Terroir Selections. Pott, numbered among the most...
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Count me in as a Timorasso (white wine from Piemonte's Colli Tortonesi DOC)...
The recently revived Timorasso cultivar has been described by Kerin O' Keefe (one of the leading Italian wine experts) as "one of the most exciting wines coming out of Italy right now" and "boasts more...
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Mapping the sparkling wines of Le Marche (Italy)
The rugged environment of Le Marche provides a landscape that is less suitable for agricultural pursuits than is the case in neighboring Tuscany, Umbria, and Abruzzo, for example. The Apennine range...
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Trailblazer and Evangelist: Marco Caprai and Sagrantino di Montefalco
The Sagrantino grape has a history in its native Montefalco that stretches back 400 years but that extended history did not translate to renown. That is, until Marco Caprai appeared and, by dint of his...
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Anima Negra's AN/2 2017 (VT Mallorca): A Wines from Spain Vinos de Vanguardia
The Balearic Islands, the autonomous division of Spain located off its east coast, are, due to their excellent climate, sandy beaches, and natural beauty, one of Europe's most popular holiday...
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The sparkling wines of Italy's Lazio region
Lazio, the second most populous (5.9 million people) and second largest economy (170 Billion Euro GDP) of Italy's 20 regions, boasts Rome -- Italy's largest city -- as its capital, the same role it...
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The "Cutting Edge" of Spanish Wine: Bodegas Mustiguillo Finca Terrerazo 2015
Spanish winemakers, beginning in the 1980's, began to focus on the more powerful, fruity wines that the market was rewarding. That is no longer the case, according to Pedro Ballesteros Torres, with the...
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An overview of the sparkling wines of Northern Italy
Over the last few months I have been engaged in a project to map all of the DOC(G) sparkling wines of Italy. To date I have published posts on the sparkling wines of 12 of the 20 Italian regions. I...
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The sparkling DOC(G) wines of Central Italy
With the sparkling wines of Northern Italy now in the books, I turn my attention to the sparkling wines of Central Italy.There is a consensus among the internet maps of Italy that Central Italy...
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Domaine Tortochot Chambertin: Stellar representation of a classic vineyard
Prior to the onset of Covid-19, and the attendant ill effects on commerce and community, Sunday was the day that our group normally gathered at Parkview (Winter Park, FL) for our Burgundy and BLT...
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Mapping the DOC sparkling wines of Abruzzo and Molise
In my quest to map the sparkling DOC(G) wines of Italy I have completed overviews of the sparkling wines of North and Central Italy and will now turn to the southern sparklers, beginning with the wines...
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Differentiating between the Grechetto and Grechetto Gentile varieties in...
I have encountered and tasted Grechetto wines at various times in the past but my interest was heightened during research on the sparkling wines of Italy when I encountered a "variety" called Grechetto...
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Sparkling wines of Piemonte: Villa Sparina Metodo Classico Blanc de Blanc...
In that I am currently writing a series on Italian sparkling wines, I want to taste as broad a range of those wines as possible but it is especially tough to acquire them in Central Florida. As I was...
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Cutting-Edge Spanish wines: Parés Baltà Hisenda Miret 2017, DO Penedès
This is the final wine in my series on the Vinos de Vanguardia (Wines on the Cutting Edge) of the Spanish wine industry. These eight wines were so designated by Wines from Spain and were discussed and...
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