Grapevine

“Red wine is healthy for you.” “All alcohol is bad for you. Even moderate consumption can be detrimental to your health.” These contradictory headlines blare out with increasing frequency. And each is backed by a scientific study or irrefutable pedigree.

My wife and I have been fortunate over the years to enjoy high-end travel destinations and the sophisticated restaurants that thrive nearby. Several of these destinations and restaurants have been in the wine regions of several countries, notably France, Italy

There are many facets of wine, primarily self-contained within the expansive wine industry. From the agricultural component, to the technological, biological and marketing components, the wine industry, at least in the United States, tends not to cross the line into

In the last three columns we’ve explored the numerous elements of consuming wine at its peak – the moment when it reaches the top of the Bell Curve and expresses its best characteristics. The columns focused on these categories: The

The aging of wine is a rather open-ended term lacking any specificity to a particular wine. Your concept of aging may be a matter of a few days – or hours. Mine may be several decades. While one consumer may

The holiday season is in full swing. Celebratory gatherings, family dinners, gift-giving all create a joyful, sharing environment that typically beckons us to splurge a bit – on others and on ourselves. A few more calories are consumed, a few

There is an ongoing debate of whether wine should be consumed young or after a period of aging. I am a proponent of consuming wine as it is released by a winery. Much of the wine released by winemakers is

Most wines on retail shelves should be drunk young; by that I mean as soon as you open the bottle. The reason: oxidation is as inevitable as climate change – whether or not we accept the scientific premise of each.

There are certain producers that I’ve come to admire over the years that I’ve been consuming wines. What started out as a long list has been whittled down to a rather select few. Most of them are French (Burgundy and

When shopping for the produce and/or meats necessary to prepare an at-home meal, consumers are increasingly aware of the nutritional and health values of unprocessed ingredients. Many products contain nutrition and ingredient information on government-mandated food labels. But what of