Blog Index

James Laube

Sbragia Leaving Beringer After 32 Years

Posted: 05:46 PM ET, 01/10/08

After an illustrious career spanning 32 vintages, Ed Sbragia is leaving Beringer. The exact wording of his new association with Beringer will be wine master emeritus. But as he told me today, he’s effectively turning over winemaking duties to his long-time assistant, Laurie Hook, who has worked with him for 21 years, and he will be a paid consultant. Read more

James Suckling

Read This And Dinner on Me

Posted: 04:44 PM ET, 01/10/08

“That’s the last bottle,” said the owner of the restaurant.

Those words are like great rock n’ roll to my ears, when I score a great bottle for a great price in a restaurant. It’s happened many times in my career. Read more

James Laube

Dark Horse Zin in the Winner's Circle

Posted: 07:42 PM ET, 01/09/08

I like the vibe from Dark Horse, a new Dry Creek winery. It calls itself "The wine for cowboys, not to mention cowgirls, cowhands, hell, even the cows themselves. Pigs and chickens too."

Michael Loykasek is the winemaker, a veteran from this northern Sonoma appellation, who worked at Meeker and Armida before starting his own label, and he consults for De La Montoya and Hauck Cellars. Read more

Richard Betts

My Best Meals of 2007

Posted: 04:19 PM ET, 01/09/08

As 2007 has come to a close, I give pause to think about where I had some of my best meals of the year, and here they are in no particular order!

Eleven Madison Park, New York
I ate at Danny Meyer’s elegant Madison Square restaurant six or seven times. Read more

James Suckling

Sleeping Wine Bars and Telephone Sommeliers

Posted: 03:05 PM ET, 01/09/08

Went to a wine bar in Pasadena, Calif., last night with some friends. Something annoying happened. Some might find it amusing, but I think it’s not cool. And it gives sommeliers a bad name. Moreover, I would have thought more of the service at Vertical, which is a wine bar and restaurant located one story above street level. Read more

James Molesworth

Waiting for the Other U.S. to Show Up

Posted: 02:16 PM ET, 01/09/08

I’m still waiting for the Other U.S. to show up, winewise that is. By Other U.S., I mean American wines produced in states other than California, Oregon and Washington. Read more

James Laube

Talking Baseball And Wine With Tim McCarver

Posted: 02:51 PM ET, 01/08/08

It’s not often that I visit with other critics, especially those who work in other fields. So it was with great pleasure that I sat down for lunch yesterday in Napa with baseball analyst Tim McCarver to talk about our national pastime, wine, sports in general and calling them the way you see them. Read more

James Suckling

Sharing Is Most Precious

Posted: 02:42 PM ET, 01/07/08

Sometimes it’s better not to know the value of a wine. Otherwise, you may never drink it, or you might sell it instead. It’s meant for drinking.

I was thinking of this yesterday during a lunch in Los Angeles with some friends, Michael Frey and his lovely wife Catherine Bloom Frey. Read more

James Laube

The Case for an Upper-Case Boysenberry

Posted: 01:15 PM ET, 01/07/08

When I was growing up in Anaheim in the 1950s, we frequently visited Knott’s Berry Farm in nearby Buena Park. Back then, Knott’s was a homey theme park, set in a western cowboy motif. It was the only show in town until Disneyland arrived. Read more

Harvey Steiman

Wine as a Gift? Thanks, or No Thanks?

Posted: 12:30 PM ET, 01/07/08

Miss Manners' column caught my eye when I opened the morning paper today and the headline read, "Thanks for the Party, but Leave Wine at Home." She basically sided with a host who didn't know what to do with all the bottles handed him by guests, and wished they hadn't brought them in the first place. Read more

- Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 -