What if ordering your favorite varietal, say, pinot noir from Edna Valley, California, helped educate women about their risk of heart disease? That would certainly make every sip worth the price, wouldn’t it? Crafted in collaboration with consultant winemaker Rob Mondavi Jr., award-winning wines from ONEHOPE(OneHopeWine.com) make a positive worldwide social impact by aligning specific varietals to different causes. Half of the program’s profits goes to make a difference somewhere in the world; for example, providing clean water, supporting our…
Orange Wine: An Old World Rarity
The wine is orange—that would be an accurate observation. But, realize that orange wine is not made from fermented oranges, nor is it laced with Tang. They’re simply white wines made from grape juice left to mingle with its skins for a while, which turns the wine orange, anything from golden to copper to deep amber. More impressive than the rich hue is the wine’s voluptuous and complex characteristics that combine white-wine flavor with red-wine structure, making them excellent for…
A Sunken, Drunken Treasure
It is a known fact that a good, complex sparkling wine undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle under controlled conditions, such as a dark underground cellar. Not the case for this bubbly. Named for its origins, Bisson “Abissi” is actually aged in the deep-sea abyss, nearly 200 feet down, off the coastal town of Portofino, Italy. Ligurian winemaker Pierluigi Lugano, who makes Italian spumante in the classic Champagne method, lacked adequate cellar space to age his wine. So, his creative…
Little bit country
Originally published in Desert Companion – April 2015 If there’s one advantage to growing up in Yerington, Kirk Peterson will tell you. He’ll even describe what Yerington tastes like: bright and fresh and mineral, evoking the rock outcroppings after a rain on his family’s ranch. Today, Peterson is beverage director and certified sommelier at Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group Las Vegas, and one of the most respected Italian wine specialists in town. But his rural roots are never far from…