WINE ON THE ROAD UPDATE Wine On The Road's wine-focused, luxurious, behind-the-scenes itineraries for our fall 2012 tours of Burgundy, France (www.wineontheroad.com/
burgundyunfiltered.php), Piedmont, Italy
(www.wineontheroad.com/
piedmontunfiltered.php) and Tuscany, Italy
(www.wineontheroad.com/
tuscanyunfiltered.php)
are now available online.
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.
A trip is scheduled for 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.
|
 I occasionally taste wines too soon after a piece about similar juice. Others 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 latest in my series of potpourri columns for 2012, detailing some of the quirkier wines I’ve recently had the pleasure to taste. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #206 – 2012′s Wine Potpourri Part V
 The weekend before last I was invited to cover the World Wine Meetings (www.wwm.fr) in Chicago for Tasting Panel Magazine, where I’m a contributing editor. I’ve been to wine conferences all over the world and was a bit apprehensive at the prospect of covering one in my own backyard, so to speak. But I needn’t have worried because this event, privately run by the Adhesion public relations firm (www.adhes.com) and designed to bring just over a hundred European winemakers and a similar number of U.S. importers together in a businesslike atmosphere, couldn’t have gone more smoothly. One additional point – many of these wines are not yet available in the U.S. and so in all cases the listed retail price comes from the winery’s representative and is his or her approximation. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #205 – The World Wine Meetings
 Varietal bottlings, wines made primarily from a single grape variety that typically display the name of that variety on the label, are created all the time as producers realize that such specificity can lead to higher margins and, perhaps, higher quality as well. This week’s column is about Pinot Noir from the New World, specifically Oregon and California in the U.S. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #204 – Varietally Correct: New World Pinot Noir Part II
 Wine consumers are often confused by varietal bottlings, which are wines made primarily from a single grape variety that typically display the name of that variety on the label. There are many such wines. More are created all the time as producers realize that such specificity can lead to higher margins and, perhaps, higher quality as well. Here I focus on New World chardonnay. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #203 – Varietally Correct: New World Chardonnay
 As I said last week, a good spring white is like sunshine in a bottle. Aromas and flavors are often bold and forward, but these wines also can be concise and brilliant.
Let’s start with wines from the New World, home to sun-kissed skies and tons of fruity flavor. The Grazioso Torrontes from Mendoza, Argentina, is colored a limpid tone of hay-yellow. On the nose kumquats, sweet lemon and white peach take their turns, followed by a light touch of mandarin orange and lime pith on a medium-weight finish. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #202 – Spring Whites Part II
 Traveling the world to taste wine for you... A good spring white is like sunshine in a bottle. Ideally, such a wine will have brilliant, drip-down-your-chin succulence. Flavors can be bold and forward, but these bottles also possess a concise textural mouth feel that quenches thirst and leaves the mouth watered and expectant of another sip. What’s more, a top-notch, warm day sipper rarely costs more than $20. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #201 – Spring Whites Part I
 Tuscan beauty I’ve fallen in love with the wines of Italy and Spain. Both places are home to so many indigenous varieties and specialist winemaking techniques that they stand apart from other regions, including those that are right next door in Portugal, France and Austria. They also bring much joy to a jaded wine critic who feels he spends too much time in Northern California. What’s more, nothing reviewed here should cost more than $30 in a reputable wine shop. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #200 – Fun Wines From Italy and Spain Part II
 Good wine should be shared and savored! I occasionally taste wines too soon after a piece about similar juice. Others 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 latest in my series of potpourri columns for 2012, detailing some of the quirkier wines I’ve recently had the pleasure to taste. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #199 – 2012′s Wine Potpourri Part IV
 Breathtaking Piedmont, home to great wine In late 2011, chef/owner Andrea Frizzi of Il Posto Restaurant and I escorted ten wine and food enthusiasts through a week’s worth of in-depth sampling against the backdrop of the annual truffle festival in Piedmont, Italy. What follows is a travel log but you can also check out www.wineontheroad.com/piedmontunfiltered.php for more pictures, videos and information on a return trip in October of 2012. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #198 – Wine On The Road in Piedmont Redux
 Italy and Spain are spectacular Italy and Spain, home to so many indigenous varieties and specialist winemaking techniques, also bring much joy to a jaded wine critic who feels he spends too much time in France and California. What’s more, nothing reviewed here should cost more than $30 in a reputable wine shop. Continue reading Weinberg’s Wine Notes #197 – Fun Wines from Italy and Spain Part I
|
Welcome to Unfiltered, Unfined! Truth in agriculture is the ultimate truth. At Unfiltered, Unfined we are dedicated to providing the most relevant, user-friendly wine, beer and spirit-based content available.
Please note that our correspondents do accept samples, tours and lodging, but unless otherwise noted it is always with the understanding that nothing has been promised in exchange - no columns, no articles, no endorsements, no recommendations, not a single mention anywhere. This is how we maintain access to the very best of the wine lifestyle while reporting in an impartial manner.
At some point we'll set up a premium content section for paying subscribers only, but for now, all content will be free as we ramp up our vision of what our site should be. And of course, we plan on always providing you with access to most of the site at no charge. Be sure to sign up for our email list (left side of page) and social media feeds so that you'll be fully connected!
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.
|
