by Marty Cook Similar to the way in which many of us consistently seem to buy wines made from the same 15 - 18 grapes, it seems that many of us also tend to choose our European wines primarily from France and Italy.  The interesting thing is that the vast majority of European countries make…

Wines For Cinco de Mayo      by Marty Cook Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Cinco de Mayo is an annual Mexican celebration held on May 5.  The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862.  This event is not a federal holiday in…

Wines of Australia and New Zealand     by Marty Cook While we are enjoying our springtime and experiencing budbreak in the Northern Hemisphere, the world “down under” is enjoying their Southern Hemisphere harvest and busily preparing their latest vintage of wines!  And, although this latest vintage cannot possibly be ready for us to sample next Wednesday,…

The Wines of South Africa      by Marty Cook South Africa is a relative newcomer to the American wine scene over the past three or four decades; but that region has a rich winemaking tradition that extends well into the nineteenth century. The South African wine industry is also one of the leaders in doing research…

Pinot Noir    by Marty Cook Our next Wine Wednesday takes place on May 26th at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/New York time, and focuses on Pinot Noir, the red grape whose clusters loosely approximate the shape of a pinecone (the name is derived from the French words for pine and black).  This difficult-to-grow cool climate grape gives winegrowers…

Rhône Whites & Reds      by Marty Cook The Rhône wine region of France has been making wine for over 2000 years.  The area is broken up into the Northern Rhône and the Southern Rhône, and the history and wines of the entire area is well-documented.  The Northern Rhône wines are exclusively red wines made primarily from the Syrah grape, while the Southern Rhône region is…

Wines from Regions/Wineries You have Visited     by Marty Cook It is likely that all of us have visited a winery or a number of wineries in various wine regions.  These explorations are tremendous fun!  And, each winery and wine region introduce you to a number of wines from which to draw conclusions. Virtually every winery…