Arturo Ciompi

Every so often I’m reminded of the silliness of the State of North Carolina being in the liquor business. They can’t advertise. (Imagine the state telling you to buy Jack Danielsinstant lawsuit if anything goes wrong.) Because the consumer can only buy liquor at the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) stores, the prices are fixed and […]

Does anyone really need further convincing of wine’s health benefits? If so, are you also convinced that “global warming” is a ruse promulgated by bad science? I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of news regarding our melting polar caps, but here are two recent, glaringly wonderful wine discoveries you may have missed. 1) Scientists from Johns […]

I recently celebrated Halloween by sitting on my front porch, along with my wife and youngest daughter, handing out candies. Nothing extraordinary there. Yet, in my mind’s recesses, I do have this dread of not being there to dispense the goodies. All Hallows’ Eve always recalls my early teen years in suburban Cleveland. If anyone […]

Pssst. Are we allowed to enjoy merlot again? Or even to say the word out loud in polite company? The hex put on domestic merlot some 10 years ago, perhaps justifiably, awakened many winemakers to not be satisfied with their rich but perhaps clumsy and slightly sweet output. Truth be told, Americans bore easily and […]

Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Doyle’s–these are magical names in the storied history of auctioning artwork, furnishings and the collections of the rich and famous. In recent years, the art of the wine auction has shone beneath its own rarefied, brilliant spotlight. Add Zachy’s, Morell and Hart-Davis to the list of prominent auctioneers who feature premium, often historic, […]

As you read this, all of Europe is on an extended vacation. Tradition from Spain to Denmark decrees that workers and their families pack up for the better part of the month and travel to vacation getaways (sometimes only a few miles down the road). It’s called Fer’Agosto in Italy. All the windows and doors […]

Think white wine is for wimps? Whether a beginner or long time enthusiast, do you knowingly smile at the adage that states: “The first duty of a wine is to be red?” Just like a veteran beer drinker who wouldn’t think of giving up his ale, porter or stout because of seasonal changes, red wines […]

“Rioja or Ribera del Duero?” asks the steward on a train from Madrid to Seville. If I didn’t already know I was in a different country, this proved I was in another world! Vino–and copious amounts of it–is everywhere on this sojourn organized by the indefatigable Janet Kafka, working overtime on her BlackBerry, whose public […]

For those of you who never enter a wine shop, the endless rows of popular brands in your supermarket’s aisle can be a real crapshoot. Names such as Gallo, Kendall-Jackson, Yellow Tail and Sutter Home often dominate shelf space. How is one to know if they are good, bad or worse … all mediocre? A […]