Over the years, I’ve had my share of wines go bad even with proper storage in a wine refrigerator that’s in a dark location. These were medium-bodied California red wines that were 7-10 years old and I had expected them to hold up well. But, upon pul...
You may have heard about pulling the cork on a bottle of wine and “letting it breathe.” Those that follow this practice may give the un-corked bottle thirty minutes to an hour before declaring that “the wine is now ready to drink!” While pulling the...
Imagine ordering a glass of a light, crisp fruity Sauvignon Blanc expecting the glass to look like the one on the left side of the photo. But, instead you are served a golden-brown glass of wine like the one on the right. You will have been given you...
Have you ever opened a bottle of red wine that had turned brown? Or, seen a bottle of white wine that’s turned brown? Well, this is a real issue with wines - as they age. As wines age, they can become oxidized especially if the cork is not entirely...
You may have seen it. Someone with a glass of wine looking very closely at it. Or even slightly tipping the glass of wine over a bit to take an even closer look. Well, there are several things that can be learned by just looking at your wine. And, ...
On a trip to wine country earlier this year, I picked up several bottles of wine. Included in my wines was a Reserve Chardonnay that I had gotten in Alexander Valley. In the tasting room it was excellent. After purchasing the wines, I was very care...
During a recent special occasion, I decided to pull out some older wines to share. Not really old, but from 2010, 2009 and 2007. All were reds - a couple Barberas (a favorite of mine) and a Zinfandel. These weren’t amazing bottles to begin with or t...
As we continue exploring wine flavors and where they come from, let’s take a step back to last time. As was noted, barrel aging can impart many wonderful flavors to wine. Additionally, barrel aging imparts tannin. And, tannin is very important to a ...
It’s commonly believed that older wine is better. And that can be true. But often, it’s not. If you’ve read some of my past blogs, you know that one of my favorite lines is that a wine cellar is not a wine hospital — it doesn’t make a bad wine bet...