Last night, I sipped a glass of Pinot Grigio at the bar of Moxie while munching on an appetizer of grilled shrimp with grit-cakes and watching the Cavs beat the Hawks on the tele. About halfway thru the game (and my dinner,) I realized that I had no idea whose wine I was drinking. Better yet - I did not care. At the end of the day, I have a habit (good or bad) of ignoring wine lists and simply nodding to the bartender and [...]

  I am in love with after dinner drinks. And (lucky for me) retro after-dinner drinks are popping up on dessert lists all over Cleveland. From trendy liquors to specialty coffees and fortified wines, classic digestive drinks offer a tasty way to cap off the night at home or out on the town. Not sure where to start? Here’s a few of my favorites around Cleveland.  Drink Name: Mint Mocha Margarita Description: Sweet. Creamy expresso flavors and refreshing chocolate mint on [...]

I went to Parallax recently with a few new wine friends and ordered up an Absinthe after dinner. Lucid was the brand and it was served in the traditional fashion with slotted spoon, sugar cube and ice water. Now that this infamous concoction is legal in the USA, interesting presentations of Absinthe have popped up on restaurant after dinner lists across the country. At Blue Point in downtown Cleveland they have a special water fountain designed to slowly drip water on [...]

It is interesting to me that anyone in this day and age, would ever want to be a known as a wine snob. In fact, most educated people view the modern-day wine snob as a "wannabe expert” who is lucky enough to have a wad of cash in one hand and a copy of Wine Spectator in the other. Even easier if the wine snob has access to high-end wines stored in the office swag closet. Either way it ain't pretty [...]

Recently, I was asked to present a lecutre and tutored tasting for a group of young professionals. During the reception that followed, we sampled four table wines with various appetizers and two dessert wines - Ferrante Vidal Blanc Ice Wine from Ohio and Fonseca Bin 27 Port. Sampling two dessert wines in a pre-dinner reception is not something I would normally suggest but the event host was very interested in expanding the tasting to include a lesson on dessert wines. [...]

Last night, one of my students asked "does wine have a season." We were tasting a flight of Chardonnay at the time and the flavor profile of the oldest vintage (2000) prompted the question. While some sippers assume that whites are for summer and reds for winter, this offered a perfect opportunity to bust the myth. The class agreed that the bottle maturation certainly altered the flavor profile of the Chardonnay making it winter-worthy and a perfect partner for a wintery mushroom soup [...]

Open any wine magazine these days and you will be sure to find an article on the economy. Just yesterday, I received a "wine alert" that, while US wine sales were up by 1% in 2008, last year marked the slowest growth in the past decade. Seems the industry grew by 4% in 2007. Further, the sales of lower priced wines are positioned to soar in 2009 leaving high-end wines in the dust. And if the media keeps spreading the news [...]

Just started a Daily Wine Question. To participate, simply scroll down to the link under my blogroll and click on Daily Wine Question. Also, started a wine group on Facebook called Vine Verve. By joining the group, you can chime in on various discussions about wine with like-minded people. So Friend me up and join Vineverve! I want to hear from you. Cheers.

This weekend in New York City, I made it my goal to sample a few varities that step out of the wine box. Lucky for me, we went to The Modern (located on the garden level of MoMa)to celebrate a friend's birthday and their wine list offered a great selection of unusal varieties. Managed by Belinda Chang, the list offered an interesting read with many regions and price points represented.  I settled on two bottles for the table, a 2006 Paul [...]

Over the years, I have become a big fan of alternative wine vessels. From cement fermentation vats to bubbles in a can, I adore both old and new methods of making, storing and serving wine. In fact, I am in Atlanta right now to speak on behalf of Schott Zwiesel, maker of fine wine glasses and decanters, during a trade show at AmericasMart. That said, last night I went to this great restuarant called Two Urban Licks with my friend - and fellow Aussie [...]