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WINEBOY RECOMMENDS: 2005 Newton Napa Valley Claret ($25) Claret (pronounced Clair-it) is the term the British use to refer to the red wine of Bordeaux. The Newton Claret is a Napa Valley blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and syrah. It is a rich, chocolaty, minty, mouthful of wine that — while…

The headline on a November, 2007 press release from the (California) Wine Institute states: “California vintners praise high quality 2007 wine grape harvest.” While I don’t doubt the veracity of the winemakers assessing the vintage, it is very difficult to make broad generalizations regarding the harvest of any geographically large and diverse region such as…

CLICK HERE TO VIEW the latest 5-minute “WineBoy” webcast. Gazz wine blogger John Brown is often asked about whether he supports adding a flavor dimension to wine by aging it in oak barrels. Does the oak actually improve the taste? His answer to that question goes all the way back to his grandfather’s wine cellar.…

I ‘m often asked about the relative merits of using oak barrels to add a flavor dimension to wine. Does the oak do anything to actually improve the taste? Doesn’t using oak just inject an artificial element into a naturally produced product? Can oak be used to age both red and white wine? These are…

As the New Year dawns, and as my weary palate rests for a few days, I want to share with you some of my favorite wines (in no particular order) of the past year. Most of these little lovelies are still available in state wine shops or on the Internet. As is my practice, I’ll…

WATCH: ‘WineBoy, Show 20: “WineBoy” closes out the year with show No. 20 devoted to one of host John Brown’s favorite holidays — New Year’s Eve. He serves up some instruction and guidance in the art of picking Champagne and sparkling wines, including where the wines come from and how the traditional Champagne method is…

On the first day of Christmas, WineBoy gave to me: one Umberto Lupini … Actually in the latest episode of the five-minute webcast, The Marcrazi Lupini opens the show and introduces host John Brown, who regales us with several non-wine suggestions for holiday gift giving. Our spirited host also recommends a wine to please even…

RELATED: See “Beers to Us” blogger Rich Ireland’s beer-centric gift ideas.  As the holiday season approaches, I would like to suggest a semantic change to the old adage “It’s better to give than receive.” Let’s deleting the word “than” and insert the word “and.” In other words, it’s better to both give and receive –…

The Wine Shop at Capitol Market recently held their annual Claret tasting. Claret is a term the British have used for centuries to describe the red wines of Bordeaux. And while this Claret tasting usually features a Bordeaux wine or two, it is also expanded to include cabernet-based wines from around the world. The neat…

See the companion post at Rich Ireland’s ‘Beers To You’ blog on adding the right kinds of beer to a Thanksgiving feast. For many of us, the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are fowl affairs because the turkey will once again be the centerpiece of these traditional holiday feasts. Thanksgiving is also the beginning of the…