Antica

Italians love their wine, and they’re not going to be restrained from drinking it at any opportunity, particularly when the time seems “just about right.” However, they also recognize that their wine is best when served with food. Piero Antinori of the famous Tuscan winemaking house of the same name knows this perhaps better than [...]

Merlot Masters

Too many Sideways fans have pushed the debate on wine in the wrong direction. Not that there’s anything wrong with a decent Pinot Noir, but these people have tried to convince the wine-loving public that all Merlot is insipid plonk. Well, maybe some of it is, and that’s the reason this reasoning has gotten traction. [...]

Post Card from Napa – Antica

  We arrived by car, but it seemed at times that even mountain goats would have trouble ascending these slopes. The narrow paved road curved from left to right and, at the top, revealed a stunning hilltop winery that seemed to emerge from our imagination. We had reached Atlas Peak, the mountain but also the [...]

Cabernet with — Cooler Air!

  With temperatures breaking thermometers – let alone records – and the Weather Channel refusing to report the next forecast, the thought of anything sizzling on the grill sounds like a scene from a Stephen King horror story. So most of us have huddled inside our homes where the air conditioner groans under loads that [...]

2010 MASSICAN, “annia,” Napa Valley White Wine

Dennis Kelly, sommelier at The French Laundry, recommended a beautiful white wine to us over two years ago.  The Riesling from Stony Hill Vineyard is an atypical varietal of Napa, and a wonderful example of what winemakers can do when they push the limits of terroir.  The capacity for such a recommendation is the one reason Mr. [...]

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