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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…

I must take issue with my friends Tara and Rob who, in a recent “Main Ingredient” column for the Sunday Gazette-Mail, suggested there is a double standard at play when it comes to wines for drinking and wines for cooking: “If we’re going to pay a lot for a bottle of bliss that’s been coaxed…

ED. NOTE: We’ve got a blogfecta (blog + trifecata) of posts on the dining/drinking experience. After reading this one, check out Rich Ireland’s “Beers To You” post on how restaurants routinely ruin good beers. And food blogger Brooke Brown weighs in with a plaintive cry about servers manhandling the glassware. Over the years, I’ve sipped…

Going to the WVU-Louisville game next week? Go a day early and join the fine folks at the “Slight Indulgence” wine shop in Morgantown for a special tasting and dinner at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7.  Joe Elchik from Francis Ford Coppola Vineyards will lead the tasting and guest chef Jason Blosser will prepare special…

Join host John Brown as WineBoy, Episode 13, visits Wilson Ward’s Fisher Ridge Winery in Putnam County to explore the art of making wine in West Virginia. You’ll get the inside scoop on how wine is created — from the vineyard to the fermenting vats to the press and into the barrel. And you won’t…