Uncork Your Mind

Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us. We were so excited in this episode to have Nicholas Hammeken from H...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 12 L is for Lugana.   Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us....

  September is a great month. I usually spend most of it in the Hudson Valley. I begin with the Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition at the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival followed by a seminar or two at the festival. Then there is harvest and apple picking. By the end of September, my sister can't wait to get rid of me. Boy is this year different. The Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival wen...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 11 - K is for Kabar. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us....

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 10 - J is for Jura. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us. T...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 9 - I is for Indigenous Yeast. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 8 - H is for Hunter Valley. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out wi...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 7 - G is for Glera. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us.  ...

Nine Pin Cider is New York's first farm cidery. I am familiar with them, I've used their ciders in seminars at the Hudson Valley Wine Festival but I never had the chance to sit down and talk with them. That all changed last week when I sat down with Benji and Joshua and we talked about all things Nine Pin. They had sent me a sample in advance of their Cidre Rose which is right up my alley. It's ci...

What's your wine unicorn? That was the question proposed by Lori Budd of Dracaena Wines. She runs a monthly online get-together called Wine Writer's Wrap-up where we discuss different topics. I was in, but I had no idea what a wine unicorn was? Upon further explanation, she told me it was a wine you are dying to try but perhaps out of reach, like Screaming Eagle. I did some soul searching and real...

While so much has changed these days, so has the wine programs I was supposed to attend. Obviously canceled. BUT we get creative in the wine industry, and the wine programs come to you. Instead of me going to a seminar and interviewing someone, I can record the seminar I attend and bring it to you. This seminar was brought put on by Gregory + Vine with Spanish wine educators Rick Fisher and Kat Th...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 6 - F is for Fume Blanc. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with...

Last Monday I held a Sparkling Wines of the World seminar over Zoom. It seems to be the thing these days for get-togethers. I wasn't sure how many people, if any would even show up. When I go in front of people, I tend to get a little nervous. Nervous I am going to leave something out, but if you run into me on the street, I'll vomit at the mouth with information. I guess the more I do these the m...

I met Emanuela Gianfreda at the Slow Wine World Tour at Eataly last month. She is fifth generation and along with her sister Dalila, they are Antica Masseria Jorche. While Dalila runs the business side, Emanuela followed the path of her father is the enologist behind the wines. Located in Salento, which is the heal of the boot in the southern end of Apulia, Italy the area has a dry climate with be...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 5 E is for Egri Bikaver. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with...

I attended a Wine & Food Pairing class at VinExpo in New York City last week. The class was geared towards discussing how wine and food interact. How certain aspects of food (saltiness, sweetness and acid) interact with the wine. Acid in food with acidic wine brings out the fruit in the wine and tones down the acid.   We tasted 3 wines - a Sancerre, Cabernet Sauvignon and Moscato all tried with 3...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 4 D is for Dornfelder. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 3 C is for Chenin Blanc. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 2 B is for Barbera   Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us....

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season Episode 1 A is for Assyrtiko   Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions on letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us.  ...

Cava I think is the most underrated sparkling wine on the market today. I fell in love with Cava about 10 years ago and didn't know that much about it until I went for my CSW designation. Cava is my go-to for an every day sparkling wine.   Here is what you need to know about Cava:   1. Cava is produced in the traditional method where the second fermentation happens in the bottle. 2. Three main gra...

  It's not too often you get to taste vertical tastings of wine unless perhaps you go to an event at a winery featuring verticals of their wine. Other reasons are, well, you just don't keep the wine in your house long enough. Last month for Winephabet Street our topic was Z for Zinfandel. I had two bottles of Artezin Mendocino County Zinfandel. I chose the 2017 Artezin Zinfandel one for the progra...

Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 1 Episode 25 Y is Yarra Valley   Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions on letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us....

  I thought I'd make this a Left Coast week, from one left-hander to a family of them. (you'll see what I'm talking about in the podcast) Today we hear from Taylor Pfaff, CEO of Left Coast and next article will be their summer wine selections. Enjoy.   Last fall I hosted Taylor Pfaff from Left Coast Estate for a wine dinner at Kitchen 330 in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. Chef Gus prepared a fabulous m...

        Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 1 Episode 24 X is for Xinomavro.   Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions on letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang ou...