So said, Thomas Jefferson in 1816.   As I have written here before, Thomas Jefferson was a great lover of the finer things in life.  Art, wine, cognac, culinary delights, gardening, and the power of the written word. For he said to…

It begins with a word from Monte Vertine that can be called obsessed at worst, passionate at a minimum; but dedicated for certain. “We have deliberately avoided cultivating other types of grapes such as Cabernet, Pinot Nero or Merlot because we want to…

If the question asked of me most often is wine question 101: “Why do I like wine so much?”  then wine question 102 has to be, “Why do I age wines?”  The subject of this post helps to answer that question. Castello…

If this wine were from Tuscany, it would cost $100 – what more incentive would one need to track it down and try it?  2006 was an exceptional vintage across Italy, and this wine surely lives up to the benchmark reputation of…

As a wine writer, it’s easy to find highly rated $50 Brunello and post about how delicious it is. This isn’t a bad thing; wine lovers always appreciate as many data points as they can get.  However, what’s additionally valuable,…