Sometimes in life, one moment changes everything. For me, it was the moment I "got" wine. It was 40 years ago, but I remember it like yesterday. I was lucky enough to be included in a wine tasting ...
Explore the World of Wine in our New Tasting Series
Back when I shifted my career from sommelier to educator and marketer, my first project was to create a database of every wine product sold in Chicagoland. When I reached 10,000 entries, the client ...
As a working sommelier, people say to me all the time “I like a sweet wine,” then add, “but not too sweet.” So, my first question is what’s too sweet? Your morning OJ? That’s about 75 grams of sugar ...
Together with The Chopping Block's staff, I’ve recently sniffed, slurped and spit wares from Chicagoland’s finest wine purveyors to bring you our new wine list! As always, we focus on small ...
Italy is still our favorite wine import, outpacing second place France in both dollars and volume, according to Wine Business Monthly, April 2021. So, what makes Italian wine so good?
Explore Your Primal Culinary Urge with Wine and Cheese
In all the years I’ve taught wine and food seminars, a guest may have told me “I don’t like halibut,” or maybe “I’m not fond of Thai food.” But I’ve never heard anyone say “I don’t like cheese.”
In my last blog, I suggested some white and red wines to seek out when you want to lower your wine cost and still drink well. But what about sparkling and rosé? Can you find these wines in an ...
As I write this, I am sipping one my favorite discoveries of this confinement. On day 14 (aka yesterday, whatever day of the week that was), I opened a bottle that is light and carefree and wants to ...
