Holiday Gifts for Gourmets

By Doc Lawrence. Perhaps this season’s most intriguing gift possibility comes from Samuel Adams’ founder Jim Koch with his new beer, Utopias. Strong, rich, dark, uncarbonated and served room temperature in a snifter glass, it weighs in at 27 percent alcohol and runs $150 dollars per bottle. The jug is a work of art. www.samueladams.com. Beyond the Shaker, www.beyondtheshaker.com, specializes in unrefined sea salts and...

Thanksgiving With Fine Wine

By Doc Lawrence. The year is winding down and we’ll help it go in high style. Gatherings and homecomings are highlighted by feasts. Laughter permeates and for a little more than a month we celebrate. Wynton Marsalis, the jazz maestro, told me about the magic of the blues, one of America’s original art forms. The blues, said Marsalis, “defies defeat and makes a statement that you never give in. You can make fun of hard...

A Grape By Any Other Name

By Robert Paul. So, what’s in a wine’s name or should we say “Sancerrely Folks?” Should wine from the sauvignon blanc grape be called Sancerre, white Bordeaux, sauvignon blanc, blanc fumé, fumé blanc, pouilly fumé? The answer is, all of the above. The flavors of the sauvignon blanc grape, which is usually vinified in stainless steel or neutral wooden casks, include mineral, grassy or herbaceous, citrus, melon,...

What’s a Fair Price for Restaurant Wine?

By Robert Paul. Have you ever looked at a wine list in a restaurant and thought, “you’ve got to be kidding.” Suppose you go to a restaurant and find a familiar bottle listed on the menu, say a Ravenswood Vintner’s Blend Zinfandel, which you regularly purchase for $7-$9 a bottle. This restaurant offers it for (a mere) $32. And the correct response is: “You’ve got to be kidding.” Since customers assume that a...

The wines for when you want a meal to sparkle

By Robert Paul. Nearly a decade ago when talking to a French wine buyer for a large beverage chain, I asked him what wine he’d suggest when a couple’s meal choices were divided between fowl or seafood on the one hand and beef or lamb on the other. What he said has stuck with me. “You can never go wrong with a sparkling wine. It is celebratory; it pairs with a wide variety of foods; its acidity stands up to but does...

Oregon for the Oenophile!

By Judi Gallagher. Looking for a wine country destination vacation? This year my suitcase in once again packed for Oregon. It’s a vacation that satisfies both the wine lover and the cuisine thrill seeker. Begin in Portland and do visit the city’s remarkable public rose garden and the famous Powell Bookstore before concentrating on the food and wine scene. Plan to spend at least two or three nights, as the restaurant...