We've recently been asked quite a bit for our thoughts on the online wine services and clubs that seem to be springing up everywhere. For the uninitiated, we're talking about services wherein the customer offers some basic personal taste information, and the service sends wine based on those preferences. The ultimate promise is easy wine without risk, always pleasing to its intended recipient, and (thanks to the the power of data) getting better all the time. Great, right?
Read moreReview: Three great duffel bags to elevate your weekend travel
We're living in a golden age of travel paraphernalia, where the miracle of crowd funding has made it such that almost any obscure need can be met with niche product. Sometimes the wheeled carry-on just feels like overkill, too much overhead (I assure you that pun was unintentional) for a quick weekend trip. So I went searching for the perfect duffel bag, and offer quick reviews of my three favorites here.
Read moreOur current picks for great food, wine, atmosphere in Madrid, Spain
I made the case just last week that Insanely great airfares make this the absolute right time to book your Europe trip for later in 2017, so am following up this week with our fourth and final (for now) installation of our Wine:Thirty Flight Guide to Madrid, Spain with what is arguably the most important piece of the series: Our favorite places for great wine, great food, and great dining atmosphere in one of my very favorite cities.
Read moreHouse (Wine) Hunters: Four tasty Italian reds from Barone di Bernaj, at $8.99 per bottle
It's been months since we last shared some good house wine recommendations in the form of a trio of Pinot Noirs last fall, but we're once again hunting for great wine at great prices so you can spend a bit less on wine by serving something that is better than its price. This lineup of Italian wines -- Barone di Bernaj -- all come from the same Sicilian producer, Madaudo. We happened into several cases that we really enjoyed. All were $8.99 per bottle when purchased by the case.
Read moreInsanely great airfares make this the absolute right time to book your Europe trip for later in 2017
If you've had a trip to Europe on your wishlist, now's the time to book it for later this year. We've been watching the airline prices from some of the big trans-Atlantic markets in the United States, and are feeling quite good about the fares available right now. The specifics will vary, but the bottom line is that we think now is the time to pull in a good deal (some even in the sub-$500 round trip range, flying economy class, of course).
Read moreRevisiting Arrington Vineyards and their "Premier Experience" tasting great Tennessee wine
We decided to revisit Arrington Vineyards for what turned out to be their excellent Premier Tasting experience. We are very glad we did – it turned out to be a very enjoyable day, well spent with some of our most favorite people! Located about 35 minutes outside of downtown Nashville, the winery is co-owned by Kix Brooks, of country music’s Brooks & Dunn fame, but it offers more than a famous owner to its visitors.
Read moreTwo-day guide to stunning beauty and charm of Lisbon, Portugal, Western Europe's oldest city
Night falls on Rua Augusta. White tiles -- polished by age beneath the feet of throngs who have walked here -- reflect the yellow street lamps as if we were standing atop the water of a reflecting pool. We've descended the hill above us, from Sé de Lisboa down to this pedestrian avenue animated by the energy of diners and evening revelers. Lisbon, Portugal, is the oldest in Western Europe, eclipsing Rome by nearly five centuries, and the other great capitals by at least a millennium. This is how you spend 48 hours here.
Read moreNavigating the big, beautiful, bright, and always efficient Madrid Barajas Airport
We've been putting together a brief guide to Madrid, one of our very favorite cities, over the last several months. Here we continue the "getting there" theme with specific advice for navigating the sprawling Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD), not just the gateway to the Spanish capital and the European Unions's third largest city, but an architecturally stunning feat that we think is one of the best airports through which to travel.
Read moreThese Top Five wines for April are perfect for springtime drinking with food or on their own
Casual wine drinkers, aficionados, and beginners alike: Each month we expose you to new things, educating and diversifying your palate with a lineup of our monthly wine picks. We're sharing some of the best we've tried in the last month so that you can seek them out and bring them to dinner this month. It feels a bit like springtime where we live, so we're gravitating to wines that make us feel like this time of year: Four specially selected whites and a red to help us walk the bridge from winter to summer. Enjoy!
Read moreDelicious pairings with Georg Albrecht Schneider wine at Washington, DC's Slate Wine Bar
Georg Albrecht Schneider, a family run winery located southwest of Frankfurt in Germany’s Rheinhessen, produces mostly Riesling on a bit more than 54 acres of land. Chef and Sommelier Danny Lledó of Slate Wine Bar in Washington, DC recently featured a beautiful four-course meal, each paired with a different wine from the Schneider Estate.
Read moreThe jetBlue Plus credit card is tremendously valuable for smart travelers in the United States
I've had the jetBlue Plus Card in my wallet for about a year now, and just this week received a letter reminding me of the 5,000 TrueBlue bonus points it awards every year on your account anniversary. This is one of the best airline branded travel cards available, an essential for anyone who loves to travel because it more than pays for itself each year, and gives you a lot of value (including an effective 16.8% back on jetBlue tickets).
Read moreInside the exquisite cellar of Bodegas Alonso Cuesta in Spain's Méntrida wine region
There's magic in the peace and quiet of a small town where wine is made. Midday sun warms you standing next to an unassuming bodega, smiling mindfully because you know there's a barrel cellar beneath your feet. A puppy leaps merrily out the door to great you. Children play in the otherwise quiet streets. Here we stand in the Spanish town La Torre de Esteban Hambrán, a town of less than 2,000 in the Province of Toledo, walking through the door of Bodegas Alonso Cuesta, one of the DO Méntrida region's finest wineries.
Read moreMemories of Jen on her birthday, from the beginning of the journey through wine and life
Anyone who has ever lost someone they love knows how difficult it is to find the right spiritual shelf on which to keep those memories: A place of prominence so we never forget, a place of seclusion so we can remember in peace, or a place by the wine rack so that we might celebrate life -- a beautiful life -- so worth living that it illuminated every other life it touched. I will forever count amongst my most treasured moments those spent with Jen near the beginning of the journey through wine and through life.
Read moreHow to improve your odds of being less cramped aboard newer planes when on a short flight
It's the worst. You're on one of those old and rather beat up small regional jets that hop passengers on shorter distance flights between medium sized cities, or between larger cities connected by more frequent flights on smaller planes. Wine:Thirty Flight recently took off in a sparkling new Bombardier CRJ 900 model aboard American Eagle, so today we're sharing tips for brightening your journey by selecting tickets on a plane you actually want to fly aboard.
Read morePort wine at river's end: Tasting Quinta do Noval in Portugal and beyond
Port wine is one of our favorite evening drinks in autumn, winter, and spring. We recently stepped off the busy street on Avenido de Diogo Leite -- in the city of Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, across the Douro River from the city of Porto -- into the tasting room of the Quinta do Noval winery. Widely available in the United States and around the world, I'd recommend Quinta do Noval as a Port to serve at home, and as a place to top into if you ever find yourself in Gaia.
Read moreMadrid, Spain: Getting there, getting around, and where to stay
I've made the case that "Madrid is the most spectacular western city that most readers of this blog have never been to". At over three million people, though, we're talking about a big city here: largest in Spain, third largest in the European Union, and larger than every city in the United States other than New York and Los Angeles. So here in our Part 2 on this great city, we're going talk the logistics of how to get there, how to get around, and where to stay.
Read moreThe Bellroy Travel Wallet is best on market, keeps me very organized at the airport and beyond
I've recently fallen in love with the Bellroy Leather Travel Wallet: Hands down the best wallet and passport cover combination on the market because it almost magically combines both into a single elegant leather object, and manages to fit everything I need into one folio smaller than any similar product I've ever put my hands on. It has helped me become infinitely more organized keeping my business together at the airport and everywhere I roam on either side of my flight, and has become truly indispensable to my travel routine.
Read moreJoin a wine club to broaden your wine knowledge and appreciation
There are a number of ways you can work towards expanding your knowledge of wine. Wine clubs offer an appealing alternative for those looking to develop their wine collection and interests with minimal time commitments. There are number of different ways to join a wine club. Here we explore the pros and cons of joining wine clubs at shops, wineries, and online.
Read moreOur favorite wine and Girl Scout Cookie pairings
We put a lineup of Girls Scout cookies and wine pairs to the test. Overall, we found that Samoas / Caramel deLites and Tagalongs are the most versatile cookies to pair with wine, while Brut sparklers and California Syrah are the most versatile wines to pair with cookies. At least one of those two wines should pair nicely with at least one of every cookie in the lineup, though we'll give honorable mention to Rioja Tempranillo's dynamic pairing with Toffee-tastics and Samoas.
Read moreReview: TAP Portugal Express, Seville to Lisbon to Porto, is great quality for short flights
TAP Portugal between Seville (Spain), Lisbon, and Porto treated us to the best regional air travel we've expereienced. If you love spending time on the Iberian Peninsula (that's Spain and Portugal, for the geographically uninitiated) as much as we do, it's entirely likely that TAP will be a big part of your plans. They are worth considering.
Read more