Press

Climate change in all its unpredictability has been throwing curveballs at vintners around the world. In a marginal continental climate, like Germany, warming temperatures have allowed for better vintages more often than the historical average. Yet the weather patterns — their timing, frequency, and severity — bear little resemblance to what was considered normal. These fluctuations have affected the wines being crafted and confounded everyone involved in their production and consumption.

Michael Lagau knows the power of wine: over a mood, over a meal, even over a life. After all, in the face of all manner of obstacles and hurdles, he’s been able to reinvent his career time and time again thanks to the wealth offered by the wine world.

With such a vast variety of wine in the world, it’s no wonder that trying a glass, or outright buying any bottle, can feel daunting. It’s not that wine is specifically an acquired taste, but the tannins in wine can make some varieties bitter and the acidity levels in wine can produce a sour taste. So how do you know what flavors you prefer, and where do you even start? Sweet wine is an ideal choice for beginners because the sweetness can dull down the bitterness of tannins or the sourness of acidity. It also comes in every type: Red, white, and rosé.

“Eww, it’s so sweet” is a gripe I love to hear when serving guests a not-so-dry wine because I know the following comment will be, “Oh, this is delicious!” What causes this presto change-o from yuck to yummy? Food, of course! Sweeter wines are delicious food complements and crowd-pleasers when you follow simple strategies.

Stilton is among the world’s best-known cheeses. An after-dinner stalwart, Stilton pairs brilliantly with a wide assortment of fortified and dry wines. Little wonder that it is nicknamed the “King of Cheeses.” Here’s a quick primer on the history and diversity of England’s Stilton cheeses and the wines and spirits to pair with them.

The most unexpected restaurant meal I had on a recent trip to New York was at a Hawaiian restaurant called Noreetuh. To be honest, I’d booked because I couldn’t resist the idea of a restaurant that served spam (as a sushi-like appetiser called musubi), but what I hadn’t expected was a serious wine list crammed with top German riesling.

At New York City’s Korean restaurant Oiji Mi, the beverage team has a particular fondness for Riesling. “It’s a somewhat misunderstood grape,” says beverage director Chris Clark, who finds his guests confused by Germany’s complex labeling system and array of anbaugebietes. “Sure, perhaps people have heard of the Mosel or Blue Nun, but we love championing the lesser known areas and producers,” he says.

Sparkling wine comes in myriad fashions, methods, grape varieties, locations and intentions, and we touch on many of those aspects in this post that offers 11 examples for your enjoyment. Geographically, we visit Champagne and the Loire Valley in France; Pfalz, Germany; Tokaj in Hungary; in California — Arroyo Grande Valley, Bennett Valley and Russian River Valley; New York state’s Finger Lakes region; the Veneto and Emilia-Romagna in Italy. We also touch on the three essential processes by which sparkling wines are made: the classic Champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle; the apparently even more ancient process called methode ancestrale, whereby the wine is bottled and capped before primary fermentation is complete; and, most basic of all, the Charmat (or, inelegantly) the bulk method of putting the wine in large tanks for the secondary fermentation. No judging here! Sparkling wines produced by Charmat — like Prosecco — and be charming and delightful.