Wine Recommendations From Customers

Thank You Young Grasshopper I am not one of those stuck up Somms who think that a customer buying $10 wines can’t possibly make recommendations to ME!! After all , Bryce started out drinking Sugar with his partner Lois and he occasionally returns wines that he thinks are corked or faulty and are perfect. Why […]

Trust Your Sommelier

Both the consumer and the Sommelier in a Restaurant or Wine Retail Shop both want the same outcome. They want a great wine that meets their palate at the price they can afford. Sommelier’s are not used car salespeople. We have so much passion to make people happy and to spread the gospel to […]

At 83 Bernard Magrez Still Going Strong!

Have You Seen This Face? Let’s just start with Bordeaux Grand Cru Classe properties. 1- Chateau Pape-Clement Graves 2- Chateau Fombauge, St. Emilion, 3- Chateau La Tour Carnet, Haut- Medoc and 4-Clos Haut= Peyraguay in Sauternes. That is just the very tip of the Iceberg. You will see this face on the back of bottles […]

Wine And Food Pairings… Classics

Sure the Golden Rule is drink and eat whatever YOU personally like. I wanted to just review some Classic Wine Food Pairings that you can’t miss with. Yes, you can drink whatever wine you want with whatever food you want. With that said, there are some Wine and Food matches that just are “Classic” together. […]

Lonely Mixed Breed Wine.. Needs Home!

Who Or What Is A Minervois? I always am curious as to why some wines just fly off the shelves and always out of stock while a good handful in various sections just sit there and sit there and never have I seen a guest even look at the bottles, let alone buy them. I […]

Chilled Wines For “Grab And Go”

Just like the frustration I have with Restaurants and a mediocre at best, selection of wines By The Glass, I have the same emotions about a wine shop that has a mediocre selection of Chilled Wines for “Grab And Go”. Usually it is the norm to put all the national recognizable stuff ONLY in […]

Keep Reaching for the “STARZ”!

A Wine Importer That Doesn’t Sell Hats In A Shoe Store Coming off a Father’s Day weekend and writing this Wine Review and my deceased father Marty repeated his Mantra over and over “Don’t Buy a Hat in A Shoe Store”, I very rarely write about a Wine Importer. My father meant a business should […]

What Is A “Good Wine” ???

Somms like me, whether in retail or restaurants have a tough order to fill in order to recommend the perfect wine for consumers, when their only criteria many give use is to recommend a “Good Wine”. What constitutes a “Good Wine”> I look at wine from 2 perspectives. One is from a technical aspect […]

Barbera from “Alba” …Big Difference

Barbera,, Not Hanna Barbera This is not to be confused with The Flintstones creators. Barbera is literally the most widely planted grape varietal in the Northwest Region of Piedmont in Italy. Most would think it is Nebbiolo for Barolo and Barbaresco. Nope it is Barbera. Most popular are the Barberas from the D.O.C.G area of […]

Big Daddy Wines For …Daddy!

Just like anyone else you would buy a bottle of Wine for a “Gift”, I will always remind you of my opinion, NOT to buy the brand that the person you are presenting the GIFT to drinks all the time on their own. The concept I have is you may know the category such as […]