This is a great question, Susan. When tasting several different vintages from the same producer, most professionals begin with the oldest vintage. The reasoning is that the oldest wine is likely to be the most integrated and nuanced, and possibly the most frail. The youngest wine is likely to be the boldest. If you taste the young bold wines first, you may not be able to fully taste the nuances of the oldest wine when you get to that wine. So most pros start with the oldest wine.

Romain, if I were to buy just one type of wine, I would buy pinot noir, which I think of as the single most versatile wine with Thanksgiving dinner. Pinot noir is earthy in a way that’s evocative of the enticing aroma of forests in the fall. As such, it “mirrors” the earthy flavors of poultry, stuffing and gravy. But pinot noir is also classically known for its cranberry flavors (perfect for Thanksgiving). And finally, no red wine is more silky and smooth than pinot noir…it’s effortless to drink over the long Thanksgiving meal. I especially love pinot noirs from the Sonoma Coast, the Sta. Rita Hills, the Russian River (all in California) and the Willamette Valley (in Oregon).

Hi Kevin, yes, it’s a beautiful time of the year to drive through wine country. Interestingly though, red leaves on grapevines are a symptom of virus. Read more about it in my blog about red leaves here.

Hi Susan: Some 34 grape varieties grow in the Napa Valley, but as you point out, cabernet sauvignon leads, comprising 50% of all plantings. Cabernet emerged as the dominant variety in 1992. Part of the reason was phylloxera which had been discovered in the valley in the 1980s. In the large scale replantings that followed, vintners not only planted on better (resistant) rootstocks, but also planted grape varieties more perfectly suited to Napa’s climate and soils. In particular, cabernet sauvignon achieves a very high level of quality when planted in warm areas with significant diurnal temperature fluctuation and where the soils are well drained. Napa Valley fits the bill perfectly. The climate is warm with little to no rain during the growing season. Nighttime temperatures are often 40 degrees cooler than daytime temperatures and the volcanic and sedimentary soils drain water quickly.

Andrew, the sweet red wine recioto di Valpolicella is made using the appassimento method where the grape sugars are concentrated before the regular winemaking process. To do this, grapes are left for months to dry and raisinate, usually on mats or shelving in cool, dry lofts. The word recioto comes from “recie” in the Venetian dialect, meaning ears—a reference to the little lobes or “ears” on a grape cluster that usually get very ripe because they are the most exposed to the sun. When you see “recioto” on Italian wine labels, it usually indicates that the wine is sweet (as in recioto di Soave and recioto di Valpolicella).

Hi Jenny. It depends on the kind of Beaujolais. Beaujolais Nouveau—the soda pop-like wine that’s released every November—does not age. It should be drunk (chilled) right away. But serious Beaujolais from the ten Beaujolais Cru do age thanks to their greater structures, complexity, and depth of flavor. The ten Cru are: St.-Amour, Juliénas, Chénas, Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Régnié, Brouilly, and Côte de Brouilly.

Good question Mark. And the simple answer is pretty easy: they are the same grape. As you point out, the grape used to make Prosecco used to be called prosecco. But as the wine Prosecco’s popularity soared, and as other countries began planting prosecco grapes, the winemakers of Prosecco realized that a time could come when everyplace from Australia to South Africa produced so-called Prosecco wine. To avoid confusion and protect the authenticity of Prosecco as an Italian wine, the producers adopted a new name for the grape. The name they chose—glera—was an historic nickname for the grape. Prosecco wine, by the way, must be 85% glera with several other indigenous varieties allowed up to 15%.

Great question, Jill. In red wines, softness comes in large part from ripeness. In general, the more physiologically mature the grapes are when they are harvested, the softer the wine will feel on the palate. That’s because ripeness leads to mature tannin development—which in turn leads to softness. That said, it’s also possible for a wine to be so soft that it’s like an uninteresting puddle of pancake syrup.

Hi Steve. Vendange Tardive wines are Alsace’s very late harvest wines. Produced in tiny quantities and usually bottled in half bottles, the wines (especially the Vendange Tardive rieslings) are exquisite. As you probably know, there’s a strong cultural practice in France to serve a sweet wine along with a decadent food (like foie gras) as an appetizer. As a way of kicking off a meal, it certainly makes a statement. But I have to say, I’ve never found the idea appealing. Sweet wine and rich foods have a big satiating effect on the body. After an appetizer like that, I want to go to sleep, not continue on to more courses. I prefer to serve Vendange Tardive wines by themselves in place of dessert. A small glass is a sensational way to end the day. As a final point, in my opinion, these wines develop very well in bottle, especially in the slightly larger 500 ml bottles rather than 375 ml half bottles.

Patrick, in my over 35 years in the wine industry, I’ve sent a bottle back maybe four times. But I’ve sent wine glasses back probably 200 times. Restaurant glasses go through the dishwasher with plates that have everything from abalone to zucchini on them. Those aromas often get trapped in the glass, because the inside of a wine glass is microscopically pitted. Thus, a wine that seems funky might be fine. In that case, I just ask the server for a fresh glass, explaining that the wine seems a little odd, but I think it might be the glass, not the wine. If you try this and the wine still seems off, send it back.