Today we kick off a monthly series into specific wine varieties and regions starting with a look into Chile’s clandestine-turned-flagship grape called Carmenere. Initially it was thought to be extinct after the phylloxera decimated Bordeaux’s vineyards in the 19th...
We have been talking about Chile’s amazing wine diversity for a while now so I thought it was high time to do a short but sweet blog post outlining the major valleys in the Central Valley of Chile. The wine-growing region in Chile extends over 1,000 kilometers...
Imagine this. Twelve dramatically different wine valleys packed into a 1,000 mile north to south mid-section of the country, no more than 100 miles or so wide at any point. Vineyards sit in the piedmont with jagged, snowcapped peaks cutting into the sky. Others...
You guys have been writing a lot to ask which South American wines I recommend for parties, big and small, since they pack such a value-driven punch and a lot of bang for your buck. Now that we are officially knee-deep in the holiday season, here are a...
As Thanksgiving descends upon the masses up north, I want to share a short cooking and wine pairing video to give you some ideas that could easily become the first course spread. Yes, it is 90% do ahead. Important when you're hosting a house full of...
1. Wild Geography: Let’s face it, Chile has wild geography. It lays like a noodle along South America’s southern Pacific coast spanning over 39 latitudes. If you were to fly from Arica to Punta Arenas, that’s akin to going from Boston to LA in the US. However,...
Summer is just around the corner in much of the US (cold, rainy weather just a detail) and grilling seems to be synonymous with warm weather. This coming weekend, Memorial Day, officially inaugurates the picnic and barbeque season. Ahh, the smells of...
Spring time has officially arrived in the US. My goodness, here on my tour stateside, the strawberries are coming into season and flooding supermarkets, roadside stands and farmers markets. While the natural inclination in these latitudes is to make up a...
One of the lesser known classic wineries in Chile, alongside heavy hitting names like Concha y Toro, Cousiño Macul, and Santa Rita, Santa Carolina is celebrating 135 years as a winery and has made a major transformation in its product.
I am back on the ground in Chile after a whirlwind "tour" promoting our culinary & wine tours business and Emiliana Orgánico wines with TV in Florida, cooking classes & wine pairings at Central Market in Texas, and wrapping up everything with the most...
Recently arrived back in Chile after my two week soirée in the Colorado Rockies and beaches of St. Augustine, Florida, I am in serious need of returning to my normal, healthy diet before my next (meat and dulce de leche laden) trip to Uruguay in three weeks. In this...
On Saturday, I read in the Wall Street Journal Dorothy Jaiter and Josh Breche's thoughts on Chile's unusual wine varietal, now a flagship grape, Carmenere, as being a risky grape for Chile. I think the real issue was that the examples of Carmenere that...
This weekend, I jet to the US for series of South American-driven events. While many of them are with private chef associations like Les Dames d'Escoffier, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs (WCR), New York Women's Culinary Alliance, and universities (including...
AWESOME!!! A Chilean wine made the Wine of the Year (2008) for Wine Spectator. That means it beat the Premier Grand Cru, some rockin' Pinot, many, many others. Wow. Clos Apalta is the creme de la creme of Casa Lapostolle winery, a sultry, slinky vintage of 42%...
The other night at a wine dinner, engrossed in intense conversation among people in the food and wine industry in Chile, the most memorable part of the evening was perhaps the description of wine by the winemaker of Amayna (Viña Garcés Silva), Claudia Gomez. She...
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