European Vintage Round-up

Staying up to date on the quality of growing years from Europe has always been a bit more challenging than being aware of vintage variations here at home. With many changes in the “wine press” industry, including the sale of Rober Parker’s Wine Advocate, and the slippage of the Wine Spectator further down the “advertising driven slope” it is even more difficult than ever. Because of wine making style in Europe versus the US, vintage conditions take on an out sized importance in the quality of bottles each and every year.

Wine Tricks

Over the years working in the wine industry like any industry really, you learn tricks. Tricks for everything from opening wine bottles to preserving wine to even resealing it when you put it back in the wine rack or refrigerator. Some seems so simple once you know them but unless you work in the business of wine day in and day out you might not ever discover these short cuts. Here are some of our favorites and most useful.

The Most Important Wine Flaw to Know

There are many things that can go wrong in the winemaking process. Many are controllable and some are not. Wine is an organic product and while from time to time we all might encounter a wine that is simply poorly made, more often than not one of the things that goes wrong is not due to a poorly skilled winemaker or production staff it is a simple flaw. Everything from bottle variation, to volatile acidity or VA, to an unintended secondary bottle fermentation can just get loose in the wine resulting in a bottle that just plain doesn’t taste or more likely, smell right.