David White, a wine writer, is the founder and editor of Terroirist.com. His columns are housed at Wines.com, the fastest growing wine portal on the Internet.
Wine enthusiasts are always looking for an experience that's completely arresting -- a wine that stops you in your tracks, makes the room go silent, and just pulls you into the glass.
"Wine one is a white wine. It's clear, star-bright, and there's no evidence of gas or flocculation."
Some movies rely on grand battles and epic fight scenes to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. "Somm," a new documentary from Jason Wise about three students aiming to join the Court of Master Sommeliers, attempts to captivate viewers with wine evaluation. And it succeeds.
Now that Independence Day is behind us, the summer is in full swing. Barbeques, hikes, and lazy days at the pool abound. And most of us are itching to leave town -- eager to spend some time away from work, escaping from it all.
Last week, about 250 wine bloggers gathered in Penticton, a small city in British Columbia, Canada, for the sixth annual North American Wine Bloggers' Conference.
Rarely do wine enthusiasts have a summertime page-turner. There was Sideways, of course, the Pinot-drenched novel by Rex Pickett that became a blockbuster movie, but that hit bookstores nearly ten years ago.
"Wine is just too fancy for Maryland," explained Rob Deford, the owner of Boordy Vineyards in Baltimore County, as he discussed the local wine industry's challenges. "We eat crabs here; we drink beer."
This week, more than 100 wine producers are gathering in San Francisco to celebrate America's take on the 22 grape varieties originally made famous in France's Rhone Valley.
Sniff, swirl, sip.
Whether at home or at a restaurant, analyzing wine is a fairly straightforward process. And when you stick your nose in a glass of wine, you'll typically encounter pleasant aromas like fruits, flowers, and #. Sometimes, though, a wine will seem off.
On Super Bowl Sunday, some 1.25 billion chicken wings were consumed alongside 11 million pounds of potato chips, 4 million pounds of pretzels, and 2.5 million pounds of nuts. Massive quantities of beer helped wash all that down -- nearly 50 million cases worth were sold on Sunday alone. It's no wonder why Anheuser-Busch purchased four and a half minutes of ad space during the big game.
