Author: John Brown
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Bargain wines for wintertime sipping
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The New Year has arrived snowy and frigid, reminding us that wintertime temperatures can be miserable. But January also delivers a jolt of cold, harsh economic reality: it’s time to pay the credit card bill for our profligate holiday spending. While I’m not one who has the discipline to commit to new year’s resolutions, I…
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Wines for the Holiday Season
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With Christmas and Hanukkah falling on the same day this year, you’re probably struggling with deciding what wine to gift to those special wino’s in your life. Well, today I’m going to suggest a few options for your consideration that would excite my palate were I to be the recipient of such vinous largesse. The…
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There’s more to Beaujolais than Nouveau
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In just a few weeks, we’ll all be sitting down to stuff ourselves at Thanksgiving dinner. That’s my favorite holiday of the year because it’s a wine lover’s dream come true. At the center of the meal is turkey which lends itself to any number of cooking methods from the traditional oven baked bird, to…
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Christopher Columbus Wrong Way Pasta
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As a descendant of Italian immigrants, I’m grateful for and proud of my heritage, and for our government’s recognition of Italian Americans by establishing Columbus Day. On Monday, I plan to cook up something Italian, and pair the dish with vino from the country that has been called: “a boot full of wine.” Alas, what…
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How To collect wine for Aging
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For decades now, I’ve experienced both agony and ecstasy in the pursuit of the perfect wine. Allow me to amend that last sentence because I’m pretty sure that nothing is perfect. But I am always searching for wines that surpass those that are considered to be good -or even excellent. Wines that go above and…
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Rose and a Pink Butt
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I’ve written many times before of my affection for all things rose’, and there is no better time to open a bottle of that sometimes pink, salmon colored or even orange hued wine than in the heat of the summer. And while it may seem counterintuitive to suggest pairing rose’ with a hearty, meat-centric dish, …
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Red wines for casual summertime dining
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While we suffer through extreme heat and humidity in the waning days of summer, I generally prefer to sip light, white wine with my meals. Chilled sauvignon blanc, riesling, unoaked chardonnay and pinot grigio top the list of wines I choose to accompany with many of my summertime dishes. But I adamantly refuse to eliminate…
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Stuck in a wine rut? Try these refreshing alternatives
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When I find compatible wine and food combinations, I have to force myself to try different pairing options and think outside the box… er…bottle. I suppose it’s because I’m a firm believer in the old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” so I am very reluctant to risk suffering through, heaven forbid, a…
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Perfect Wines for Rack of Pork Agrodolce
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Homo sapiens are complex beings. We like to think that we know what we like, and then we change our minds and make choices that surprise us. Take wine for example. For years, I had an aversion to drinking any type of sweet wine. But I know that was the result of too many traumatic youthful experiences with…
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Bravo Marcello! Grazie Mille
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Discovering the symbiotic relationship between wine and food is one of life’s exquisite pleasures. While I’ve always enjoyed eating, I was not always a fan of wine. As a matter of fact, it took me several years to realize that wine could be more than just an inferior substitute for beer or hundred proof vodka.…