Eat & Drink
The thrillingly rich white wines of the Northern Rhône, among them Hermitage Blanc, have caught the fancy of wine lovers (and makers) the world over. The blending of Marsanne and Roussanne grapes can produce a heady wine — a perfect match for grand dishes when a white wine is preferred […]
I love eggplant! And even though I have been teaching cooking classes for years, I am always shocked at the number of people who claim not to like eggplant. I’m also shocked at the number of people who think that eggplant is a high-maintenance vegetable to prepare. Many think eggplant […]
When Samuele Sebastiani came to America in 1895, Barbera was one of the grapes he, along with many other Italian immigrants, loved to cultivate. Barbera is that everyday red — dark in color, overt in bouquet, rich on the palate and satisfying without having to think too much. My own […]
Rioja’s Gran Reserva bottlings seem to be less and less appreciated in the world market of today. The thinking behind this category is culling the finest grapes of the vintage, (not made every year, by the way) age two years in oak barrels and then three years in bottle before […]
Figs are a bittersweet arrival; summer is coming to a close, the days become shorter, and the idea of fall begins to set in. The first summer I had a fig tree, I cooked with figs every day because once they have been picked you have to use them very […]
Bordeaux knows no season. I’d be the first to admit that dissecting Bordeaux’s charm is more “comfortable” in the cooler months. But if someone offers me up a nice Medoc on a sizzling August day, my ears still perk up. Such is the case with today’s red, a Bordeaux I […]
Left Coast Cellars is a new (and cute) name to me. They produce single-vineyard wines from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The Cali’s Cuvee Pinot Noir speaks volumes about the caressing suppleness inherent in good Pinot, and this recent vintage has produced a wonderful, sensual, spot-on wine at an extremely fair cost. […]
Sylvia Ballentine-Knight and Fahim Knight took the idiom, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” to heart when financial issues stood between their daughter, Fahsyrah Kumasi Knight, and a summer gymnastics camp. “We immediately saw this as an opportunity that could serve as a teachable moment for [her, by] putting […]
I last reviewed Mazzoni Vermentino-Chardonnay from the 2011 vintage. The wine partnership between the Terlato family (prestigious importers) and the venerable Franceschi family of Montalcino produces a number of “co-authored” wines. In the less-than-stellar 2014 vintage, today’s offering still manages to bring out the “gee whiz, how much fun can […]
Berry season is coming to a close, and one of my favorite berry recipes is going back onto the shelf for another year. This is my mom’s recipe, which came about as most do: “What am I going to do with all of these blueberries?” I am not even sure […]
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