WINE ON THE ROAD UPDATE Wine On The Road's wine-focused, luxurious, behind-the-scenes itinerary for our Tuscan Tours in April of 2012 are now available online. Check out Wine On The Road's Tuscan Tours at http://wineontheroad.com/
tour_tuscany.php. We're also planning a Napa trip in May of 2012 in conjunction with the Colorado Golf Club near Denver, go to http://wineontheroad.com/
napaunfiltered.php for more information (there will also be an organizational dinner at the CGC on Wednesday, January 18 at 6:30pm. For reservations call 303-840-5400.
GET SWEET AND STICKY WITH FOOD NETWORK CELEBRITY CHEF KEEGAN GERHARD Food Network celebrity chef Keegan Gerhard, owner of dBar Desserts restaurant in Denver, and Chief Wine Sherpa Ben Weinberg have created the ultimate wine country tour of the dessert wine-focused terroirs of Burgenland, Austria and Tokaj, Hungary. To learn more about the Sweet and Sticky tour please join Keegan and Ben for a spectacular, multi-course wine dinner at dBar Desserts, 1475 East 17th Avenue Denver, CO 80218 on Tuesday, January 24th at 6:30pm. Dinner is $125 per person including food based on the exotic cuisines of Austria and Hungary and authentic local wines to match. For reservations call (303) 861-4710 or go to www.dbardesserts.com.
CHILEAN TERROIR EXPERIENCE Taste, Tour and Experience Chilean Wine with Acclaimed Wine Educators Stuart George and Benjamin Weinberg
The Chilean Terroir Experience offers independent, behind-the-scenes tours of Chile for up-and-coming wine professionals. These are on-site, intensive learning opportunities specifically designed for sommeliers, wine buyers and wholesalers who have shown potential and have indicated an intention to pursue a career in wine.
Trips are scheduled for March 17 - 25, 2012 and October 6 - 14, 2012, led by acclaimed wine educator and Tasting Panel Contributor Stuart George and Contributing Editor Benjamin Weinberg. Planned stops include the terroirs of Maipo, Aconcagua, Cachapoal, Colchagua, Curicó, Maule, Casablanca, San Antonio and the capital city of Santiago itself. Sponsorship is provided by Brandabout, a wine marketing firm based in Santiago with specialized knowledge of Chile, and Wine On The Road, an international provider of wine-country tours.
We believe that the ultimate way to learn about regional wines is to go to where they are made. The Chilean Terroir Experience is uniquely designed to provide first-hand, in-depth access to wineries and wine makers who are setting the standards for the next generation of wine professionals. While we accept students from around the world, tours are conducted in English and are particularly oriented to students from the UK and USA.
To learn more or to register for this unique opportunity, please go to http://www.wineontheroad.com/chileanterroirexperience.com.
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 Gnarly old vine Zin Wine consumers are often confused about varietal bottlings (i.e, wines made primarily from a single grape variety which typically displays the name of that variety on the label). In this installment I focus on California zinfandel, a product that is often, whether justly or not, called “America’s red wine.”
While pale pink, semi-fermented, sickly sweet white zinfandel (made from the same grape but mostly without the dark red skins) is still quite popular among wine newbies, red zin is a different animal entirely. Deep, dark and delicious, true zinfandel is planted all over California wine country and produces some of the state’s most distinctive bottlings. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #190 - Varietally Correct: California Zinfandel
 Traveling the world to taste wine for you... As I often say in my Potpourri columns, occasionally wines are tasted too soon after a piece about similar juice. Other wines require a delay to allow importation into the U.S. of the current vintage. A few even occupy the niche of true oddball without compare. What follows is the first potpourri column of 2012, detailing some of the quirkier wines I’ve recently had the pleasure to taste. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #189 - 2012’s Wine Potpourri Part I
 Ben hanging out in Burgundy, the home of Pinot Noir There is a ton of confusion in the wine world concerning varietal wines (i.e, wines made primarily from a single grape variety which typically displays the name of that variety on the label). In this, the second installment of a series (see New World Pinot Noir for the first), I focus on Pinot Noir from the Old World (grown primarily in France but also including Austria, Germany and Italy). Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #188 - Varietally Correct: Old World Pinot Noir
 It's hard work finding all that great Pinot! New Year’s Eve has come and gone and that means resolutions. One of my resolutions this year is to continue to provide terrific wine tours via Wine On The Road (www.wineontheroad.com) and to offer top-notch drinking advice via this column and my other wine writings. Toward that end, I thought I should start 2012 with a series of primers on various varietals and how they present themselves when grown in different terroirs. This week’s column is about Pinot Noir from the New World (primarily Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, Oregon and California in the U.S.). Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #187 - Varietally Correct: New World Pinot Noir
 Cheers on New Year's Eve New Year’s Eve is all about sparkling wine, and while I’ve always liked fizz I’ve come to especially appreciate it as a wine writer. More than half of the questions I get from readers have to do with the impact of wine on food. Sparklers, especially dry ones, pair exceedingly well with food. Their high acidities and scrubbing qualities match perfectly with the sweet, salt and fat of year-end celebratory meals. Bubbles are also quite festive, and nothing evokes holiday cheer quite like the sound of a popping cork. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #186 - New Year’s Bubbles
 The holiday season in Champagne, France Our most festive holiday traditions revolve around children. There is indeed much joy to be found in a child’s eyes as they enjoy the presents given to them by friends and family. However, in order to be able to produce such joy the adults in the room may require some fortification. This column is dedicated to those folks. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #185 - Christmas and Hanukkah Wines
 Wine Country is always beautiful As I often say in my Potpourri columns, I’m able to write about most of the bottles I like as part of a themed experience. But occasionally wines are tasted too soon after a piece about similar juice. Other wines require a delay to allow importation into the U.S. of the current vintage. A few even occupy the niche of true oddball without compare. What follows is the last potpourri column of 2011, detailing some of the quirkier wines I’ve recently had the pleasure to taste. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #184 - 2011’s Wine Potpourri Part X
Champagne vineyards in the fall
After the inaugural edition of my Piedmont Unfiltered consumer tour concluded at the beginning of November, I immediately headed off to Champagne, France, to site-check wineries, lodgings and other necessaries for a fall 2012 trip (see the Wine On The Road website for information on my other consumer-focused wine tours). On this jaunt I was accompanied by Brian Freedman, Philadelphia-based wine writer, educator and consultant, who will be the overall leader of Wine On The Road’s Champagne Unfiltered. This column details the second half of that week. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #183 - Wine On The Road in Champagne, France: Part V
There's wine country just about everywhere
As I often say in my Potpourri columns, I’m able to write about most of the bottles I like as part of a themed experience. But occasionally wines are tasted too soon after a piece about similar juice. Other wines require a delay to allow importation into the U.S. of the current vintage. A few even occupy the niche of true oddball without compare. What follows are some of the quirkier wines I’ve recently had the pleasure to taste. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #182 - 2011’s Wine Potpourri Part IX
 Turkey and trimmings A hint of chill in the air reminds me that fall is here and winter isn’t far away. The end of November is just around the corner and many of you will be purchasing wines for your Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday tables. We could spend time talking turkey, but generally such food-and-wine pairings rely more on understanding the impact of flavorful sauces and side dishes than of the main course’s relatively neutral protein. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #181 - Thanksgiving Wines
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In reference to any wine prices I publish in my writings, they are based on the lowest generally available prices I find in the U.S. at the time of publication. I use commercially available wine searching software such as Winesearcher Pro and Global Wine Stocks in my analyses, and as such, these prices may not be available to consumers in all markets.
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