When you stick your nose in a glass of wine, what do you smell? Most of the time, the aroma will be fruity, floral or spicy. The wine may even be earthy or smell of smoked meats (as in a Northern Rhone Syrah), or buttery and tropical. All pleasant scents. But what if you smell rotten eggs, wet newspaper or a barnyard? More than likely that wine is flawed. And that’s a wine you don’t want to keep in your glass. If you’re at home, dump it down the drain; at a bar or restaurant, send it back (more on this later).
One of wine’s dirty little secrets is that there are bottles on the market that contained flawed, faulty juice. Read more
Wine in a bag? Surely you’ve seen wine in a box. You probably equate that with plonk. But times are changing when it comes to wine in a bag, box or vessel other than glass. With Memorial Day weekend ushering in a season of outdoor BBQ and picnics, why not try one of these modern alternatives to the traditional glass wine bottle.
Pink wine is finally getting the respect it deserves. It can be as sophisticated as any red or white wine. I’ve been a huge fan for years. While Rose´is the perfect wine for warm and hot weather, I like to drink it year round. Lately, I’ve noticed a lot more people drink it year round too. You can find at least one Rose´option on wine lists, and grocery stores have a few more bottles of pink wine on the shelves. 
As we head into summer, it’s time for lots of great events happening all over wine country. Here’s a brief listing of what’s going on.
I came from a family of tuberose wearers, my mother wore tuberose, my grandmother wore tuberose, so I always knew I would make a tuberose perfume.
You’ve probably been to at least one wine and cheese party. This combo is the default refreshment for entertaining. But is it the best? It’s true, 
I have always loved Port. Especially 20 year old Tawny Ports. Sweet and bold, complex and delicious. But now I’ve discovered dry wines being produced in Portugal, thanks to a recent trade tasting put on by 
If you’re like me, you’re rising tomorrow at an insanely early hour to watch the royal wedding of Will and Kate. That means being up by 4 a.m. Pacific time for me. At that hour I want something interesting to sip on while watching the spectacle, um I mean spectacular event, on TV.
Fashion designers are celebrities. Chefs are rock stars. What about sommeliers? These wine professionals are getting their 15 minutes of fame too. Instead of going to cooking school, people go to somm school. Maybe that’s why 100 people signed up to take the Introductory Course and Examination given by the Court of Master Sommeliers on a recent weekend in San Francisco.
What do you do with that cork you just popped out of a wine bottle? Most likely you throw it away (you certainly don’t sniff it). Cork is a renewable crop; cork tree barks grow back nine years after harvest. Why not keep the cycle going with used corks? We all pop more than 13 billion corks every year.