For the last week I’ve been receiving daily reports from a friend, 李燕萍 (Li Yanping), who also uses the English name Aileen Lee and who is a judge in the "World's Best Vineyard" Competition taking place in Rioja, Spain. The competition was founded in 2019 by William Reed Business Media, a century-old family-owned media company, which is also a member of World's 50 Best Restaurants. 50 Best Restaurants, the World's 50 Best Bars and the International Wine Challenge (IWC). The "World's Best Vineyards" competition is designed to encourage and promote the development of the wine industry and wine t ..read more

this  wine , served on a train in Montenegro. in the dinning car ( of course )  a few years back .   can you I.D. it ?  year of no matter :     Cat , James Cat    sorry   Butt , Fluffy Butt   sorry again   Bond , James Bond   and Vesper   in Casino Royal II   on the way to the Casino   just out of curiosity.   thanks   ..read more

for review and I.D. purposes , this decanter     appears several times in    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15282746/   Drops of God   the same style appeared several times in the Netflix's   https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4003966/   in the Presidential dinning room ?   the Mayor's ?   Im guessing the large surface area helps  red wine ' bloom' .   my favorite and preferred vendor  ( 1980 )  ( hee hee )   does not seem to carry it :   https://us.baccarat.com/en/tableware/decanters-and-pitchers/   just as well. &n ..read more

the only Shaoxing wine Ive see is sold in chinese grocery stores and for that reason has a lot of salt in it. Is there a version sold in liquor store without the salt? Why add extra salt if you dont have to ..read more

So you think you know wines?  Well perhaps you do. https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/wine-experts-and-wine-snobism-exposed-as-deceptive/   As a very young man I attended a "beer tasting" night at my local surf club. (you know waves, surfboards, bikini's, sun tans ...). YES A BEER TASTING! My mates and I were rather enamored of beer at that time so it was natural thing for us to do. It was a good excuse anyway. Very few women attended, it was a blokes thing. Well as the night wore on we had all tasted very well and as part of the night a group of men were selected (dragooned ..read more

China has a long history of fermenting fruit other than grapes into wines. Here are a few, starting with my favourite.   Fresh Bayberries (杨梅） In 1997, I first ate dried 杨梅 (yáng méi), Chinese bayberries, aka waxberry or Myrica rubra*, in Xi’an, home to the Terracotta Warriors and was delighted by their sweet yet tart flavour. Later I moved to Hunan province and was able to buy the fresh fruit there when in season (May and June). I got through a lot in their short time available. They are also easy to find here in Guangxi at the appropriate time. I still get through a  lot.   I ..read more

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Hi, I’ve got a collection of decently fine wine, and my storage room/cellar will get up to 68 degrees Fahrenheit on really hot days. it drops down to 60-64@night after hot days, and will stay around just 60 during the summer on average as long as it does not get too hot. my question is if this will be a problem, since the temp only rises for a short time, I think the bottles stay around 60degrees? any advice or experience? thanks for your time ..read more

For example, I recently got some Rioja  Reserva from 2002.    That's 20 years!!    Would it be too old?    Obviously for some wines and vintages, that is nothing.   Just don't know.      Any help on this ..read more

I've tried to scour the internet for suggested wine parings for the caramelized carrot soup from Modernist cuisine at home, without luck. It tastes very different from your typical carrot soup, both sweeter and a lot more powerful. I'm thinking champagne might do the trick or I might revert to my "when in doubt" favorite - riesling (I'd guess something with quite a bit of body and some age). Does anyone have any experiences to share?  ..read more