I had a really enjoyable evening Monday night at the Wines of France dinner at Café Pinot in Los Angeles. The wine line-up was pretty interesting. We started with the Allimant Laugner Cremant Rose from Alsace. The wine was lovely, with bright berry fruit and fresh acidity. It is made from Pinot Noir and, like the Albrecht Cremant on my Top 50 list, an example of a delicious and very affordable sparkler. With the holiday season just around the corner, wines such as these should be at the top of your list for wine buys for entertaining.

The first course was a flight of wines paired with a trio of salmon …

I’m in LA tonight for a wine dinner at Café Pinot. If you happen to be in the area, there is still time to join me! The menu looks terrific and I am very excited about the pairings.

Click here for more information or call 213.239.6500.

I hope to see you there!

I’ve had some really delicious wines recently that I wanted to share with you here on the blog.

I did a tasting for some old friends a few nights ago and there were three wines that caught our attention. The first wine, a sparkler from the Loire Valley, is the Huet Vouvray Pétillant 2005 ($29.99). While this wine is a bit of a splurge, it is an outstanding wine from an equally outstanding producer. Huet is known as one of the benchmark producers for the Vouvray region in the Loire and I am a particular fan of these particular wines. The Pétillant is especially interesting because it’s made in a …

I’ve noticed over the years that there are many wine writers who have compared grapes to people, places or things in an effort to make them easier to understand. You’ll hear references to Cabernet Sauvignon as the “King of Grapes” and Pinot Noir as the sexy seductress of the wine world. Just the other day I read an article where the author compared Chardonnay from Burgundy to Grace Kelly. Most of the time I find these kind of comparisons a bit on the silly side, although if one can have a sense of humor about it all, they can sometimes be helpful. So when I was thinking about how to describe Syrah, it …

I was very sad to hear the news that Marcel Lapierre, one of the preeminent winemakers in Beaujolais passed away a few days ago. Marcel was one of the best-known natural winemakers in Beaujolais. His approach was one of minimal intervention in the vineyard and the winery and he was well-respected for his ability to infuse personality and life into his wines.

When I was in Beaujolais last November, I had the distinct pleasure of tasting with Marcel’s son, Mathieu. It was a very memorable tasting, not only because of the wines, but also because of the atmosphere of the winery. Mathieu took me to the cellar for the tasting and …