Wines & Spirits

SF International Wine Competition Announces Its 29th Annual Results

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EDT

Forty-five wine industry professionals from throughout the United States convened June 19th, 20th and 21st to taste, score and rank 4,274 wines from 1,195 wineries during the San Francisco International Wine Competition held at San Francisco's Hotel Nikko. In its 29th year, the San Francisco International Wine Competition examined wines from 26 states and 21 countries. The medal count included 148 Double Gold (a wine is elevated to Double Gold status when all judges on a particular panel agree that a wine deserves a Gold medal), 245 Gold, 1,150 Silver and 1,514 Bronze.

Bordeaux in Your Glass

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:30:00 EDT

A barge trip on one of France's many canals provides the opportunity to disembark and venture inland. In this case, we chose to take some time to explore the vineyards of Bordeaux.

Venice After Midnight

Wed, 04 May 2005 11:00:00 EDT

From traditional to contemporary, Venice's many wine bars provide not only fabulous tastings, but a true insight into the local culture as well. There are lots of ways to further your wine education, but perhaps none so delightful as spending an evening in Venice wandering from wine bar to wine bar. Venetians call this exercise the giro di ombre, after the small glasses – ombre – that are typical of the more traditional bars. A fine place to begin is an intimate square just steps from the famously knick-knack-bedecked Rialto Bridge. On a Friday evening, the campo Cesare Battisti fills with chatter and laughter as people (and dogs) spill out from competing wine bars. In front of Marcà, a wine bar that is little bigger than a newsstand, the svelte crowd sips wine and nibbles on Venice’s wide repertoire of bar snacks, known as cicheti. To an Italian, wine is almost unthinkable without food.