A few months ago, I braved the utter hellishness of I-76 rush hour traffic (along with several other fine Philadelphia-area wine pro folks) to attend a media dinner at the venerable Old City restaurant Panorama. The star attraction? Wines from Italy’s Sannio DOC in Campania. Sannio was awarded DOC status in the 1990s, though its…
Category: kick-ass wines
“The Circle Is Now Complete” (Visiting Donnafugata in Vittoria)
I’ve spent a good amount of time getting to know (and, of course, writing about) Donnafugata, one of the largest and most important producers in Sicily. Hell, I was even present for their first-ever retrospective tasting of Ben Rye (which either makes me insanely lucky, or old, or probably both). During the previous decade+, I’ve…
“Deciduous Rain-forest” Winemaking (2023 Virginia Governor’s Cup Case Tasting)
Virginia is a challenging spot in which to make fine wines. Yes, that’s despite global warming trends. In fact, those trends might even make it a bit more challenging. No one knows the challenges impacting that promising little corner of eastern U.S. wine making like the folks with whom I had a recent Zoom tasting:…
The Eternals, Part 1 (Graham’s Vintage Ports, 2020 – 1983)
Whoooooaaaa, boy. This past March, I had the extreme fortune to have been invited to NYC’s Manhatta for a retrospective tasting of W & J Graham’s vintage Ports, celebrating that venerable Port house’s 200th anniversary. Technically, it was their 203rd anniversary, as their initial plans for recognizing their 200th were derailed by the global COVID…