How to use this guide:
1. Read the previews of each blog post.
2. Click the title links to read the entire post.
3. Become an expert in the Northern Rhone.
4. Follow the links in each post to purchase some NR wines.
5. Become a lover of the Northern Rhone.
(It's that easy!)
For years, Cornas was just another “value” village of the Northern Rhone, with a reputation more like St. Joseph, say, than Cote Rotie or Hermitage. It was deemed “rustic” and a source for “country” wine. Things have changed!
This is a story of a vicious cycle finally flipping a switch to become virtuous.
Rosé is usually made with red-wine grapes, which have pigment in their skins.
All the color in rosé wines come from the skins of those grapes. (We’ll talk more about wine making later in this post.)
While the color of rosé wines can run the gamut from almost white to light red, people tend to drink them more like white wines than red wines. We drink rosé with a chill (the exact serving temperature depends, as with red and white wines, on all the particulars). Like white wine, many rosés are perfect for outdoor, hot day drinking: that’s why they’re mainstays of seaside vacations.
Eric Asimov’s latest post, "Everyday Wines: The Most Important Bottles You Will Drink," at his New York Times Blog, The Pour, is a gem.
And I’m not saying that just because he said to “find a good wine shop” with a link to his article saying that “[i]nstitutions like Chambers Street Wines, Flatiron Wines & Spirits and Crush Wine & Spirits in New York are great for expert and novice alike, and they serve a nationwide clientele.” No, this has nothing to do with validation in the National Press…
It’s because Eric has, once again, nailed how we actually drink wine. His eight tips are spot on and we’d recommend you read them. Here is a helpful link to read it now.
I was recently looking for some guidance on what Burgundy producers to collect and I came across a Top Ten list online. It had some names I had heard of, like Leroy, DRC, Rousseau, Leflaive, Liger-Belair and the like. Great, I thought, I’ll just start filling my cellar with those wines!
Just kidding. Maybe one in a thousand of you out there have enough time and money to put together an all-star Burg collection like that. But the lesson for me is that we need a real top ten list.
