Category: Wine & Spirits

Buying a winery is not like buying a house or merely acquiring property. Unfortunately the abundance of new wealth in China has led to some cross cultural misunderstandings. Despite the ordinary and undistinguished nature of these wines, many are sold at quite high prices in China.

As I write this week’s column I’m jetting my way across the great Asian Euro continents, yet again reminded of the importance of memory, legacy and travel. Composing this article somewhere over South Asia while sampling several wines that have decent yet not exceptional attributes. My destination is Italy so in respect to the great […]

It began almost 30 years ago . . . a love affair with the wines produced from the Bordeaux region of France. Particularly, wines from the small, family owned Chateaus that dot the rolling hillsides of the beautiful ‘Right Bank’ countryside. It is from here, that my inspiration came.

About an hour drive out of San Francisco is one of the world’s premier wine regions. Napa Valley is arguably the best wine region in the U.S. making a wide range of high quality white, red and sparkling wines. The region features a majestic landscape with rolling hills and mountains warmed by intense sunlight but […]

Lotus roots, the star ingredient in today’s iDeal feature story, are unquestionably one of China’s most iconic ingredients. Ironically, one of the best lotus root dishes I’ve tasted was at a Chinese restaurant in Auckland, New Zealand. Therefore, in this week’s column I revisit one of my favorite southern hemisphere regions.

The title of this week’s column may cause some readers to question whether I’ve been tipping the glass a few too many times, but the reality is that Britain has played an important role in the history and defining the style of wines. Normally when thinking about winemaking we conjure up thoughts of the big […]

Nestled on the step hills of the Italian Alps is the wine region of Alto Adige. The northern most wine region in Italy features steep hillside vineyards that slope down to the Adige River and its tributaries. The combination of slooping vineyards with excellent exposure to the sun and a climate featuring sunny days and […]

The long wine history of Portugal has seen many ups and downs with the downs decidedly prevalent over the last century. Recently there’s been a renaissance of sorts that has made Portuguese wines some of the most intriguing new wine discoveries in the world. About 8 percent of the land in Portugal is planted with […]

It took me nearly a fortnight to recover but the memories of my 24 hours in Verona are as fresh as an acidic young white wine. I flew across the great Eurasian continent to attend a black tie gala ball where our wine guide had been nominated for one of the world’s most prestigious wine […]

Wines like people have distinct personalities. Therefore just like people, to truly know wines is to understand their personalities. The first step is to choose a certain style or personality of wine that you like, then dedicate yourself to it. This is one of the best ways to ameliorate your wine knowledge. You will discover […]