By the glass

You may not like chardonnay, but you'll love chablis

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 22:44:46 GMT

The instant a wine professional hears this from a customer: "I don't like chardonnay, too buttery, too much oak," it's the perfect opportunity to introduce chablis. This classic Burgundian white offers a fresh, steely profile that manages to change minds, even with the delightful irony that chablis is made with the chardonnay grape. The customer probably doesn't have a quarrel with the grape, but with how New World winemakers barrel-ferment in new oak or overuse oak chips.

Refreshing & dimensional, these vinhos verdes shine

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:12:58 GMT

Vinho verde is wine we only thought we knew. Fruity and refreshing with a hint of fizz, most of these budget-friendly, low alcohol wines from northwest Portugal offer tasty, albeit simple, sips. But recently, we tasted two beautiful bottles that opened our eyes to what vinho verde (pronounced "veeng-yo vaird") can be. We just had to meet the right producers.

Sommelier Society event benefits those hurt in marathon bombings

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:52:17 GMT

Wine professionals live to serve. So it's no surprise that the Boston Sommelier Society is doing all it can to help those hurt by this week's marathon bombings. This down-to-earth group of wine professionals and enthusiasts will host its first Spring Bottle Bash tomorrow, Sunday, April 21st, from 6pm to 10pm at Moksa in Cambridge's Central Square. Tickets are $50 each, and all proceeds will go to The One Fund Boston, Inc. the newly established charity announced by Governor Patrick and Mayor Menino to aid those most impacted by the bombings.

Get your groove on at Wine Riot

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 14:17:27 GMT

When the doors of Park Plaza Castle opened at 7 o'clock, these rioters hit the floor, eager to learn about wine along with hundreds of fellow hipsters. Wine Riot, a twice-yearly tasting produced by Second Glass, kicked off its 2013 national tour in Boston on Friday night. This event (sold out the entire weekend) is not your average walk-around.

Navigating the Boston Wine Expo: Tips for first-timers

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:15:52 GMT

Get your glasses ready. The juggernaut that is the Boston Wine Expo rolls into town February 16th and 17th, President's Day weekend, for its annual run. Thousands will converge upon the Seaport World Trade Center to swirl and sip more than 1,800 wines poured by 185 exhibitors from all over the globe. Here are tips to get the most out of the tastings.

It's warm in the greenhouse: Wayland's Farm Wineries Day

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:12:32 GMT

An invitation to taste the wares of nine Massachusetts wineries catches our eye. But it's the promise of warmth that seals the deal. "Shoppers enjoy being in a warm greenhouse setting on a cold winter's day," enthused farmer's market manager Peg Mallett in a recent email. Envisioning sips of local wine among potted violets, food vendors and a cornucopia of root vegetables, we headed out last Saturday to Massachusetts Farm Wineries Day at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market.

New Year's Resolution to Learn about Wine

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:35:00 GMT

In the midst of tasting and reading about wine, how do you capture what you're learning? We're big believers in writing things down. An easy system we use is actually too simple to be called a system. Let's call it an approach that reinforces learning.

Never too late for muscadet & oysters

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:05:46 GMT

When it comes to classic wine and food pairings, there are few we crave more than muscadet and oysters. So when we realized we had one more chance to partake of both as part of Muscadet Month, sponsored by the Loire Valley Wine Bureau, we made a detour to The Urban Grape in Chestnut Hill.

Tasting Long Island's Wine Country, Part 2

Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:44:38 GMT

If you are visiting Long Island and find yourself grooving to bossa nova while sipping a glass of bubbly, you must be at Sparkling Pointe. This elegant winery is done in the style of a French country manor with Rio de Janeiro as its theme. The tasting hall, with its cool white walls, vaulted ceilings and crystal chandeliers, features paintings of samba dancers and a panorama of Guanabara Bay. Gilles Martin, Sparkling Pointes winemaker and master oenologist, explained that owners Tom and Cynthia Rosicki wanted to combine their passion for Champagne with their love of Brazil.

Tasting Long Island's Wine Country, Part 2

Sat, 01 Sep 2012 16:44:38 GMT

Local rosé wines that extend the summer

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 21:42:46 GMT

To extend the feeling of summer, were doggedly drinking American rosés. Since the June column on the subject, weve found two more lovely pinks from Long Island N.Y. and Southeastern Massachusetts. Both are limited in supply in the Greater Boston area, but are definitely worth seeking out.

Tasting Long Island's Wine Country

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 00:12:52 GMT

During the summer months, the North Fork of Long Island, N.Y., is a green jewel extending into the Atlantic. Most of the islands more than 50 wine producers are located here. Salt-tinged air signals a maritime climate that ushers in the islands long and moderate growing season for vitis vinifera. Varietals like merlot, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, and riesling all thrive here. One marvels at how this vibrant wine region evolved from just a few acres of vines in the 1970s to more than 3,000 acres today.

Pour it and they will come

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 16:04:10 GMT

Organizers of the first annual Wine, Cheese & Chocolate Festival at the Westport Fairgrounds on June 24th seemed stunned as hundreds flooded the big blue barn and spilled out onto the lawn.

It's been grand

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:33:47 GMT

Today's wine column is my last for the Boston Globe. In it I reflect a bit on what has and hasn't changed in the fifteen years I've been writing the column. I offer heartfelt thanks to readers who have followed...

Quebec, au bar, en bref

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:50:38 GMT

In Wednesday's Food section I reported on our crawl of newish, highish-end burger joints in Atlanta, but last week we ducked out of town for a few days in Montreal and Quebec City. Our main interest, as you might guess, being...

How to speak wine bar now

Tue, 15 May 2012 19:44:13 GMT

We'll admit to being a little in love with the analytic tool known as the quad chart. There's something attractive about the way it gives clarity to certain kinds of ideas one struggles to achieve by other means. A...

Tokaj: How they put the sweet in

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:12 GMT

AXA is a big French insurance company that also owns a number of important wine properties. The wine part of the business is run by Englishman Christian Seely whose blog I peek in on now and then. I don't normally...

More like this, please

Fri, 04 May 2012 21:11:33 GMT

Internet search engines have taught us the usefulness of the 'more like this' function. Find just one thing that hits the spot, then ask for more results that deliver more or less the same goods. Search engines do the hard...

On whether red wine can ever be fish wine

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:15:25 GMT

When suppertime rolled around Sunday night and I had an open bottle of a favorite red wine standing by (2008 Closerie des Alisiers Hautes Cotes de Beaune), I decided not to trek down to the cellar for another bottle -...

Hautes Cotes de Vermont

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:21:41 GMT

It's easy to forget that at one time the celebrated vineyards of northern Europe were nothing more than wooded hillsides. The Romans, who generally took the long view of things, planted vines wherever they thought there was a chance...

The clay's the thing

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:22:04 GMT

An email from Hamilton Russell Vineyards this week brought an item of interest. The star South African property has begun putting a small amount of its fine estate chardonnay into small, 160 liter clay amphorae. The amphorae, seen at...

Absent-minded winemaking and the Romantic tradition

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:31:50 GMT

If you haven't at least heard about the natural wine movement, it's likely you haven't been paying attention. If you have been paying attention you probably know that it's an amorphous phenomenon with heroes but no real leaders, that...

Waiter, there's a [ . . . ] in my wine

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:15:00 GMT

The online version of my column in the Food pages this morning has the headline "Among wine lovers, the word is minerality." For SEO (search engine optimization) reasons, editors routinely alter the headline when they are posted to bostonglobe.com. In...