Things to Love

Harvest has just started in California. When some of the state’s winemakers were asked what’s best about harvest, here are a few things they said:

The smell of fermentation
Camaraderie
Breakfast burritos
Seeing the sun rise over a vineyard
Cold beer
Avocados
Spicy Cheetos
Chocolate
Knowing there’s an end…

Which wine below has a history in which a bit of sexism played a role?

A. Barolo

B. Burgundy

C. Port

D. Argentine malbec

I suppose one could argue that a lot of wines could satisfy as the answer. But Port has an especially noteworthy history in this regard. The vast majority of Portugal’s famous Port firms were begun by British men. Their names – among them, Sandeman, Croft, Graham, Cockburn, Dow, and Warre – are today synonymous with the country’s greatest Port wines. British men, in fact, were not only Port’s founders but also its most ardent, if exclusionary, advocates. The quintessential “man’s drink,” Port was historically brought out (with great celebration and obligatory cigars) only after women had “retired” to another room. In fact, it wasn’t until 1843 that women were allowed at all in the dining room of The Factory House, the famous elegant meeting place for British Port merchants in Oporto. In the 1980s, I was allowed to visit The Factory House, but only in the company of a man who was a member.

Puttony

A Hungarian term for the traditional basket in which aszú (botrytized) grapes are gathered. The word puttony has given rise to puttonyos, the manner by which the sweetness of Tokaji Aszú (pronounced TOKE-eye ah-SOO), Hungary’s… Continue reading

Things to Love

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