Williamsburg Winery–Napa Talent in Virgina

If you haven’t sampled many Virginia wines in recent years, you should. The industry here has truly come a long way in the past several decades. Like any infant wine region, Virginia wines had humble beginnings, and many local wine lovers initially were not impressed. Some complained that the prices were too high. And many [...]

Artesa’s Craftsman Approach to Winemaking

This past weekend I hosted an Easter feast for my friends here in D.C. and to my delight my guests brought a Pinot Noir from one of my all-time-favorite wineries to enjoy with our pork tenderloin: Artesa Winery (pronounced “ahr TESS uh). It was a perfect match. Like me, they had the delight of visiting [...]

2008 Mercy Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco, California

This week’s pick comes from Pierre Bain, sommelier at and owner of Fandango in Pacific Grove, near Monterey, CA: “The wine shows Aromas of stone-fruit mingle with notes of Meyer lemon, orange blossom and struck-stone mineral characteristics in the glass. Well balanced, the palate shows creamy textures yet is crisp and clean with a long finish.” [...]

Luigi Bosca at Bourbon Steak

Earlier this week co-editor Angela and I had the pleasure of sampling the line of wines from Argentina’s Luigi Bosca with lunch at Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak in the Four Seasons in Georgetown.  Our host was Hugo Stabio, who had flown in from the winery in Argentina.  We were also joined by well-known wine writer, [...]

Napa Valley’s Francisan Wines

In Napa’s Rutherford area lies the tasting room for Franciscan vineyards. Franciscan’s history began more than 30 years ago with the release of its 1975 Cabernet Sauvignon. Today it continues a tradition of making wonderful wines that are available around the country, including in the D.C. area. Franciscan wine highlights the importance of mesoclimates—relatively small [...]