Organic

Ruppert-Leroy’s Beautiful Sparkling Wines Spotlight Southern Champagne

The quiet French village of Essoyes seems an unlikely place to discover some of Champagne’s most intriguing and delicious wines. Afterall Essoyes is over 100 miles from the epicenter of Reims, Champagne’s unofficial capital. And with just over 700 inhabitants, Essoyes is best known as Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s summer home. He painted memorable scenes on […]

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Spotlight Bastille Day And Reopening With Really Tempting French Bubbles

The widespread reopening of society creates a great opportunity once again to celebrate Bastille Day on July 14th. Rejoice in style by enjoying tempting French sparkling wines. The frothy bubbles and crisp, delicious flavors really capture both Bastille Day’s effusive, joyous spirit and the optimism of the reopening. BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATIONS Bastille Day—known in France

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Energetic Visan Winegrowers Deliver Vibrant, Beautiful Reds

When it comes to southern Rhône red wines, the serene commune of Visan does not jump immediately to mind. The low profile exists in large part because Visan lies around 40 kilometers (i.e., 25 miles) northeast of the popular tourist stop of  Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Despite being tucked way, marvelous grape growing terroir prevails in Visan. Energetic

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A Secret to Quality and Value? Top Notch Bourgogne-Passetoutgrains!

Within the dazzling diversity of Bourgogne red wines, discovering quality and value doesn’t have to be an insurmountable challenge. Easy-drinking gems are readily available at terrific prices. You just have to do a little digging with an open mind and palate. Consider, for example, high quality Bourgogne-Passetoutgrain red wines. GENERIC BOURGOGNE-PASSETOUTGRAINS Bourgogne-Passetoutgrains (pronounced “Boor–gawn–Pass–too–gran”) typically

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Italian-American Gastronomy Conversation Tackles Pivotal Questions on Food and Wine

Questions of authenticity, sustainability, and shared culture are crucial to enjoying and fully appreciating Italian-American gastronomy’s rich heritage. So it was a pleasure and honor to address these ideas on February 25, 2021 in a video panel discussion sponsored by the Associazione Gastronomie Profestionistti (“AGP”).  Sam Patti, founder of La Prima Espresso in Pittsburgh, and

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Cellar Tasting: Bourgogne-Épineuil and Domaine Dominique Gruhier

You’re familiar with the wines of Chablis, right? But have you enjoyed the delicious wines of Bourgogne-Épineuil? Bourgogne-Épineuil cover the hills immediately above Tonnerre, a city just ten miles east of Chablis. Both wine growing areas lie in the north of Burgundy (or “Bourgogne”), a two-hour drive southeast of Paris. But while Chablis is a large

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Dave’s Wine Tips: Shrewd Buying Delivers Burgundies With Quality and Value.

When you love drinking red burgundies, giving up is just not option. Abiding passion must be served. Yet over the last decade as prices on even village wines have escalated to $60 or more per bottle, popular producers’ wines have sadly slipped out of reach in recent vintages. When you’re feeling the disappointment, just remember

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