The perfect gourmet wine and food pairing is a sophisticated way to dine.  However, it is often difficult to find the perfect food and wine pairing.  There are even experts specifically trained to make recommendations about the perfect gourmet food and wine pairing.  However, if you’re in a crunch, it couldn’t hurt to know the [...]

Wine has long been paired with fruit, meat and other fine foods. But pairing with chocolate has a relatively recent, and controversial, history. There are those who insist that the twain should never meet. Nevertheless, there are wines and chocolates that make perfect partners.
Chocolates, except those used in cooking, are sweet. That can make the [...]

Few agricultural endeavors are as complex as winemaking. And at the end of the process, one gets to enjoy a good glass. Site selection, grape variety, soil preparation, sunlight control, fermentation management, even the type of cork used all play important parts in producing fine wines.
Wine grapes are grown in a pair of latitude bands [...]

Acetic: vinegar-like taste or smell from exposure to air. Vinegar is acetic acid.
Acidity: wines contain acids, which vary in concentration.
Appellation: French system regulating authenticity; applies to region where the grapes were grown.
Astringent: high tannin content produces dry, puckering effect.
Balance: relative degree of fruity quality, acidity, tannins, alcohol and other characteristics.
Bouquet: complex of aromas, usually from [...]

In one form or another wine production has been carried out for thousands of years. Pottery discovered in Persia (present-day Iran), dated at 5,500 BC show evidence of grape use for winemaking. Jars from Jiahu in China containing wine from wild grapes date to between 6000 and 7000 BC.
But whether ancient or modern, many of [...]

Right: Wine map of Washington
The 1960s saw the flowering of a new winemaking region in a very unexpected locale: Washington State, USA. Though near latitudes (46-47 degrees) that encompass two of the great French wine regions, Bordeaux (44.5 degrees) and Burgundy (47 degrees), Washington’s vineyards also experience cold and sometimes rainy falls and winters. Less [...]

Midway between Milan and Rome, Tuscany is bordered on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Apennines mountain range on the east.
First inhabited by the Etruscans, in the Middle Ages and continuing through the Renaissance, Tuscany developed into a center of the Arts and Learning under the control of the Medici clan. And no [...]

Right: Wine map of the U.S.
In a state that produces 90% of all US wine, the vineyards of Sonoma and Napa in Northern California are justly famous. But they have no monopoly on quality, the wines from the newer Southern California wineries are an equal match for any of their northern sisters.
Most Southern California wine [...]

Right: Wine map of France
In the triangle formed near the Mediterranean coast by Nice in the east, Marseille in the west and Avignon to the northwest, lies the region of Provence.
Provence was the first region in France to turn to winemaking some 2,600 years ago. Today some 500 wineries tend vineyards on 68,000 acres — [...]

One of the great things about pasta is its versatility. Not only is it nutritious and tasty, but it goes with any wine you happen to favor. Still, you’ll want to select a wine that goes with the whole dish.
You should start simple and work your way up as you experiment with a wider variety [...]

Right: Wine map of Italy
One of three main Italian winemaking regions, Piedmont lies at the confluence of the Tanaro and Borbera rivers, 45km (28 mi) southeast of Turin in northwest Italy. Moderately remote in this crowded modern world, it’s braced by the Alps to the north and the Apennines to the south.
Bordered by the French [...]

Right: Wine map of France
The Loire Valley, near Nantes in western France, is one of the most beautiful winemaking areas in Europe. A narrow, but wide region following the Loire river, it meanders from Auvergne and the Massif Central mountains to the Atlantic coast.
Vines producing wine grapes existed here as far back as the Roman [...]

Right: Wine map of France
Languedoc-Roussillon, the largest wine producing region in the world, lies on the border of the Mediterranean sea, between the Rhone delta and Spain.
Fifty thousand vine growers (out of a population of 2.4 million) spread over an area of 27,400 square kilometers (10,500 square miles) swelter in the intense summers for the [...]

Right: Wine map of France
The Rhone Valley, looks very much like a miniature Italy as it stretches 200km (125 mi) from south of Lyon to just south of Avignon. Along this course the climate varies from the Rhone’s cold winters and warm summers to the classic Mediterranean where winters are mild and summers hot.
The relatively [...]

Right: Wine map of Italy
Chianti — the name says ‘wine’.  A mere 300 square km (115 square mi), in the center of Tuscany between Siena and Florence, Chianti overlooks the Elsa Valley. Hilly, the terrain varies from green forests to stony meadowland. The rows of wine grape vines share the land with olive groves and [...]

Right: Wine map of France
Champagne is not just a sparkling wine, but the region from which the famous drink derives its name. The climate of the area is cooler than that of the southern French vineyards, making for a shorter growing season.
Almost a hundred miles (144km) northeast of Paris near the Belgian border, it’s usually [...]

Right: Wine map of Canada
Most of Canada’s winemaking is associated with British Columbia, and justly so. In the last 20 years the wines of British Columbia have become world-class competitors. But wine is almost made in all of Canada’s provinces, often under much more difficult conditions. And many of these small family businesses are beginning [...]

Right: Wine map of France
Nowhere in France is the terroir concept —a group of vineyards (or vines) from the same region that share similar soil and climate— more dearly held than Burgundy.
Located in central east France, the region’s 1.6 million inhabitants endure cold Continental winters, but enjoy warm summers.
A region covering 31,500 square kilometers (over [...]

Right: Wine map of France
Bordeaux. The word itself says ‘wine’ to millions around the world. Many historians of the subject assure us that wine has been produced in Bordeaux since the first century AD. And given the known ability for the great Bordeaux to age gracefully, one can believe it.
Located in the south west of [...]

Viticulture, the process of growing wine grapes, has been raised from ancient art to a complex combination of science and art. Add in all the other special knowledge and skills required to produce the end product —bottled wine— and you have a Herculean (or is that Dionysian?) task.
Vintners, makers of wine, have to consider site, [...]