#TasteWithKaren Live

New York Wine—
The Best Kept Secret

August 16, 2022 at 3pm PT / 6pm ET

 

Join Karen as she talks and tastes with two all-star sommeliers from Washington, D.C. Together, they’ll taste and reveal why New York wine is ever-so-delicious and such a steal.

Register HERE.

Purchase the wines to taste along here.

Wines to Know Woman pouring wine

DOMAINE DE LA COMBE

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2019

(Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Loire Valley, France) $18

A good Muscadet makes you want to throw some shrimp or vegetables on the grill. A good Muscadet can rival limeade in its refreshing-ness. A good Muscadet is so bright and pure it tastes like cold sunlight. All of these come to play in Domaine de la Combe’s Muscadet which spends eight months on the lees before being bottled, giving the wine a slight creaminess (a perfect juxtaposition to its crispness). The wine—100% from the grape variety Melon de Bourgogne—comes from vines planted in the 1950s on a south-facing cliff above the Sèvre River. In contrast to the many large commercial producers of Muscadet, Pierre-Henri Gadais, the fifth-generation owner/winemaker, makes wines that are artisanal and his vineyards are organic. A hot summer night and you need this. (12% abv)

91 points KM

Available at The Wine House

The WineSpeed Blog

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    Wine Evaluation System Example

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    In the United States, the popularity of big, oaky California Chardonnays led, in the late 1990s, to a still-thriving counter-movement called ABC—Anything But Chardonnay. Today, scores of California winemakers hammer on about the importance of… Continue reading

  • The New Super Sauvignons

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    One of the most exciting developments in wine over the last several years has been the emergence of a whole new class of California Sauvignon Blancs—wines that are bright, minerally, sophisticated, and complex, often with a ravishing… Continue reading

Where is the wine region known as the Great Southern?

A. Along the Pacific Ocean coast in Patagonia, Chile

B. Along the coast of the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa

C. Along the Indian Ocean coast in southwestern Australia

D. In southern Argentina, about 1,000 miles from Antarctica

C.

At the southwestern tip of the state of Western Australia, lies the wine region known as the Great Southern. The coastline borders the Indian Ocean. Wine grapes were first planted in this remote part of Australia in 1859. But the region only began to draw world attention (and Australian wine awards) as of the 1970s. Today there are about 70 producers—mostly small, family-owned estates—as well as many young innovative winemakers. The Great Southern (which is south of the better-known Margaret River region in Western Australia) specializes in dry Riesling and cool-climate Shiraz.

Chemical Trespassing

The term used when herbicides, insecticides or other chemicals applied to one plot of ground migrate and unwantedly affect another plot of ground. An example can be found in the Willamette Valley of Oregon where vineyards—many of them ORGANIC and/or BIODYNAMIC—are planted in very close proximity to hazelnut and fruit orchards. In the latter, farmers use chemicals extensively in order to insure bare brown ground, completely devoid of weeds, to make harvesting their crops easier.  The chemicals used in the orchards then often infiltrate surrounding vineyards.

The Champagne Life: It’s Hot Outside—Time for Extra Brut and Brut Nature

A glass of cold Champagne sounds good to me anytime—but in August, when it’s hot outside, that glass of Champagne sounds indispensable! Learn more about Extra Brut and Brut Nature Champagne and why they are… Continue reading

The “Wine” of July 4th

One wine, more than any other, is strongly associated with the history of the United States. That wine is Madeira. Drunk by the founding fathers during the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Madeira was also what Francis Scott Key sipped as he composed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” George Washington (who reportedly drank a pint every night with dinner), Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin all adored it, as did John Adams (who wrote to his wife, Abigail, about the copious amounts they consumed during the Continental Congress). By the end of the eighteenth century, nearly a fourth of all the Madeira produced was being exported to the American colonies. Among the colonial well-to-do, Madeira parties—forerunners of the American cocktail party—became commonplace. Today, you can buy extraordinary lMadeiras—dry and sweet styles—from three principal import companies: The Rare Wine Company, Broadbent Selections, and The Madeira Wine Company. Madeira is one of the longest-lived wines in the world and you can still buy bottles that will outlive you. And a final important fact: Madeira is one of the few wines in the world that go incredibly well with chocolate. See for yourself!

  • Oz Clarke

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  • Alessia Antinori

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  • Laura Catena

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17

Percentage increase in sales last year of pink tequila, closely followed by pink gin (which grew 16%), according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis and as reported in the newsletter SevenFifty Daily. The continued upward success of rosé wine (sales growth of 118% between 2015 and 2020) continues to spill over into spirits, creating a pink tsunami across beverages.

13

Rank in world wine production held by Romania, according to the OIV. While Romanian wine remains relatively unknown in the West, the country (which lies in southeastern Europe) is steadily moving into stronger focus. Last year, production of Romanian wine soared 16%—one of the largest increase in the world. (During the same period, production of French wine dropped 19% thanks to multiple climate catastrophes.) Anyone for a glass of Fetească Albă?

7

Number of millions of cans of water the Heineken-owned brewery Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma plans to give away to residents in the country’s drought-stricken north, according to The Drinks Business. The gesture, however, may amount to little more than a drop in the bucket. This week, in an attempt to conserve water, Mexican president Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador called for a complete halt to all beer production in the north of the country.

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