Yes folks, this has been a Humdinger of a winter – we’ve had it all, blistering cold for days on end, power cuts, interstate highways blocked and the ever-lingering cloud over all our heads, COVID. Why I obsess about the weather. You may have noticed that my newsletters tend to obsess about weather and as […]

Now you may or may not know that one of the most successful segments of the English wine market is sparkling wine, known more familiarly to the Brits as English Fizz. Why am I writing about English Fizz when we are in Virginia? Because the manager of the Virginia Sparkling Company (VSC) is Elliott Watkins, […]

Revisiting the Sparkling Wine Saga As we all know, only sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region of France is called “Champagne”. The rest of the world is stuck with using “sparkling wine” to describe their bubbly. And to their credit the “Champenois” have done a fantastic job branding Champagne. In so doing, they […]

“Now over everything the autumn light is thrown And every line is sharp and every leaf is clear…” – Poem in Autumn, by May Sorton It really does seem like the light is different in autumn. I’m not sure why. There seems to be a clarity often enhanced by the morning chill. The sun lights […]

Maybe There is a Shot at Glory This week I am featuring Cabernet Franc almost as a sequel to my last blog on Merlot. Cabernet Franc and Merlot are both regarded by some as maligned grapes. You may have gathered I’m not a big fan of Merlot; the opposite is true of Cabernet Franc. Until […]

Merlot is a wine that to some people is bland and uninteresting and to others is their absolute favorite. Now if, for example, you want to drink a red wine that is soft, fruity, is easily affordable, and that doesn’t make you pucker with bitter tannins, then Merlot is for you. Similarly, if you are […]

Where does Viognier stand after a whirlwind affair followed by a tragic break-up as the state’s darling white grape? My blog this week features the Viognier grape, how it was popularized in Virginia over the last 15 years and where the grape stands now relative to other wines like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Petit Manseng. […]

A look back at the summer of 2021 If you think about it, what COVID has forced us to do is change in some way or another. Whether it’s the decision to wear a mask or get vaccinated, we have been forced into making a decision that in many ways could be considered a life […]

Veraison – What was that again? If you Google the French term “véraison” the English equivalent is “veraison.” Under the French entry it says, “Maturation des fruit, spécialement du raisin qui prend sa couleur.” That roughly means ripening of fruits, especially of the grape which takes its color. When I come across a term like […]

This is the spring that we dared to hope for. What a difference a year makes! Last spring, we experienced the shutdown from COVID-19 and then the shutdown from frost. Not just one frost but two brutal events, two weeks apart that very nearly shut us down. This year is the reverse and we can […]