Located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Oenology (BOE) espouses a profound devotion to the sense of place wrapped up in the wine they produce. Alie and her team have really captured the essence of their unique place through exclusive use of grapes grown throughout the state of New York (you'll be hard pressed to find a vineyard in the city), inclusion of New York spirits in their tasting room, and the incredible local artwork that decorates the label of every bottle.
Read moreBlending wine, whisky, and music at downtown Nashville City Winery
We're visiting Nashville City Winery as part of our ongoing look at the larger trend of urban winemaking in the United States. Nashville City Winery is part of a growing trend of American “urban winemaking”. We absolutely loved the fusion of music venue and winery in a way that feels exactly as it should: modern yet authentic, big yet cozy.
Read morePassionate winemaking yields stunning results for Willamette Valley's Eisold Smith Wines
We recently shared some glasses with Adam Eisold and Lauren Smith of Eisold Smith Wines, located in McMinnville and Carlton, Oregon in the famed Willamette Valley. They're not only a wonderful pair of people, but their craft most certainly lives up to their idea of "lovingly crafted Oregon wines". They are some of the most passionate winemakers we know, and it shows in their relatively limited production lineup.
Read moreBest of May: Tradition and revolution in the month's best bottles of wine and cider
Tradition and revolution reign in our Best of May tasting lineup. We're showcasing our favorites from the past month, which felt cooler than usual here in the northeast United States, and thus kept us drinking more reds longer than we have in past years.
Read moreCelebrating National Wine Day with six of our wine favorites from a (thus far) great year
Happy National Wine Day! It's true, we struggle distinguishing May 25 from National Drink Wine Day (celebrated annually on February 18), but we don't like questioning an opportunity to try great wine. We're rolling with it. To celebrate, we've decided share a lineup of six greatest hits over the last year, a "Best of Wine:Thirty Flight", so to speak.
Read moreAmigoni Urban Winery in downtown Kansas City, MO is serious about making great wine
Amigoni Urban Winery, located in the historic Daily Drover Telegram Newspaper building in the Stockyards District of the West Bottoms, is next up in our ongoing series investigating some of America's urban wineries. Sourcing about 75% of grapes locally in the Kansas City area, including many from the small Amigoni Vineyard about 30 miles to the east, they is serious about making great wine, and have built a tasting experience befitting this dedication.
Read moreBrandborg Vineyard and Winery: Great Pinot Noir and other wines from Oregon's Umpqua Valley
The Brandborg Vineyard and Winery in the tiny town of Elkton, OR specializes in Pinot Noir and a lineup of other stunners whose food pairings we've shared along with our notes. We were fascinated by the incredible wine coming out of such a relatively small vineyard: they have five acres planted out of sixty that are growable.
Read moreHouse (Wine) Hunters: Transitioning to refreshing summer whites and lighter reds!
Thought it may not seem so in some parts of the United States today, May is halfway through, which means we're in the transition from red wines that go with heavier food in winter, to lighter refreshing white wine options to take us through spring and summer. Today we've one white recommendation alongside two lighter reds.
Read moreBlending Old and New World, Travessia Urban Winery headlines downtown New Bedford, MA
Owner and Winemaker Marco Montez has something really great happening at his Travessia Urban Winery on Purchase Street in charming downtown New Bedford, Massachusetts. Here Marco blends Old World instincts honed in his Portuguese family's Penada vineyard and winery with new world creativity in in the heart of one of America's most under appreciated wine making regions.
Read moreGreat wine from four places that haven't been on your list of favorites... until now
We're looking at four places in the world that make absolutely exceptional wine, but that you may not have tried. Explore them in person if you can, or just confidently choose them the next time you're staring down a purchasing decision!
Read moreBest of April: Try these five red wines that pair excellently with food
Today we bring you our top five wines from last month, April 2016. As always, our mission here is to sample some specific wine and discuss our reasons for choosing it, but also to point you in the direction of finding that wine to try yourself, or to find similar wines that you might enjoy.
Read moreSeeking sangria on Tortola and St. Thomas, two Caribbean islands that love rum
We've set out to find the best sangrias to write home about from the Virgin Islands. We begin with a word to the wise: don't walk into a bar expecting to find sangria. Wine isn't a hot commodity down here, and no matter where you get it, it's probably going to have a splash of rum thrown in for good measure, making for a distinctly island take on this classically refreshing Spanish favorite.
Read moreFive easy, unexpected, delicious wine and cheese pairings to try when hosting friends
Wine and cheese are sadly often thought of as the domain of the snooty, flavor combinations out of reach of the typical social host. Our mission here is to help you figure out how with the help of the staff at The Vineyard wine shop in McLean, VA. We've selected five generic pairing combinations, and have made specific wine recommendations with each. The idea here is to get you pointed in the right direction so that similar wines available at your local wine shop will do nicely.
Read moreVirginia's Delaplane Cellars is an indisputably world class winery
We are impressed by a number of Virginia's vineyards and wineries. But among the impressive stand out what we'd consider to be world class: the elite few whose wine we'd consider when choosing from the very best in our collection, who have really driven Virginia's emergence as a (under appreciated) wine making region to be reckoned with. Delaplane Cellars is one of them.
Read moreOur top five wines this month are an all-American lineup
Though we didn't set out with the intention of an all-American top five wines list, when we'd compared the month's tasting notes, that's exactly what we had. While this month's "Best of" includes two amazing Oregon wines from standout winemakers, we also find ourselves enjoying two entries from the "they make wine there?" category: a white from Cochise County, Arizona and a red from Arrington, Tennessee.
Read moreNashville "Music City" greatness and a newfound penchant for wine
Nashville manages to simultaneously seem both larger and smaller than it really is. It occupies that big range of American cities that are home to less than one million but more than half a million residents, a skyline dominated by tall buildings, yet everywhere a neighborhood. Tennessee isn't known for its wine, but you get the sense that this city's musical spirit breeds an inkling for experimentation.
Read moreHouse (Wine) Hunters: LAN Rioja Crianza 2011 is outstanding!
Your personal house wine is a great idea because it allows you to spend a bit less on wine by serving something that is better than its price, use some discretion when serving guests who aren't as picky (or whose tastes not as sophisticated), and avoid blowing an expensive high end wine for that "last bottle" when friends are over.
Read moreBest of February: Wine and food bring the world together
Most striking about this "best of" are the vastly different wine and food cultures that managed to get represented on our top five list. Be advised, it's possible that you've never seen Napa, Lebanon, Massachusetts, Portugal, Burgundy, Australia, and West Virginia coherently discussed in so few paragraphs.
Read moreVino Volo airport wine bars make travel better
If your travels take you through any of a growing number of airports, you'll find Vino Volo wine bars there treating you to nice wine (and wine education) while making your travel experience so much better.
Read moreThree countries, three great wines for National Drink Wine Day
We're celebrating National Drink Wine Day on February 18 by recommending three very different red wines from three countries: Lebanon (Bekaa Valley), the United States (California's Russian River Valley), and Spain (Rioja).
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