Red Wine 201 continues with what’s arguably the “world’s best red grape”: Shiraz – or Syrah. For many years, the story was that it came from Persia and was named after the city of Shiraz. But myth-busting DNA analysis has revealed that it’s indigenous to France’s northern Rhône where it’s … Read More
White Wine 201 would fail you if it didn’t mention Riesling. The thrillingly fine balance of sweetness and acidity of this variety can have “the inevitability of great art” in the best examples. One 19th century traveler exclaimed, on tasting wine from the world’s oldest all-Riesling vineyard at Germany’s Schloss … Read More
Oddly, one of Greece’s greatest ancient grape varieties is hardly cultivated or known in that country today – it’s called Aglianico, a name thought to be a corruption of “Ellenico” or the “Greek one”. It’s pronounced “allianico”. Southern Italy – where Aglianico is now and was even then at home … Read More
