The ABCs of AVAs By Jimmy Quaile, Certified Sommelier One of the first things you ask when meeting someone new is, “where are you from?” It’s an easy way to begin getting to know the person. Maybe you also know someone from the place and have a mutual friend. It’s also how we define ourselves. Where you were raised had an enormous impact on shaping who you are today. The same can be said about
The Port Wine Guide
The Port Wine Guide By Jimmy Quaile, Certified Sommelier Port is a wine originating from the Douro river valley in Portugal and is named after the town of Oporto. The wine is a blend of grapes, the most common being Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Touriga Roriz (a.k.a. Spain’s Tempranillo). It is also “fortified”, meaning the neutral spirit Aguardente (sometimes simply referred to as Brandy) is added, which stops the remaining sugar from fermenting and
Prohibition: A Short History of The Noble Experiment
Prohibition: A Short History of The Noble Experiment By Jimmy Quaille, Certified Sommelier The 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the sale of alcohol became the law of the land for 13 years starting at 12:01 am on the 17th of January, 1920. Some states refused to appropriate funds to enforce it and other states, like Maryland never enacted the code in the first place…but not for the reasons you may think. Alcoholism certainly was
10 Devilish Wines For Halloween
10 Devilish Wines For Halloween By Jimmy Quaile, Certified Sommelier The Phantom 2012 $16.98 Grapes: Red Blend Intense, juicy and succulent, this brawny wine screams for a steak or hearty stew. Palermo 2014 $42.98 Grapes: Red Blend Deep aromas of raspberry and ripe cherry with notes of star anise, black tea, Kirsch and blackberry. Ultra smooth! PoiZin 2015 $16.98 Grape: Zinfandel A lush and fruit driven Zin with fresh plum, bing cherry and peppercorn. The
Wine Scores: What’s The Point?
Wine Scores: What’s The Point? By Jimmy Quaile, Certified Sommelier Customer: What score did this wine get? Me: Off the top of my head I don’t know, but I’ve had this wine recently and I would easily give it a 90. Customer: Yeah, but I only buy wines that actually GET a 90. Me: From who? Customer: It doesn’t matter, as long as it gets a 90. There isn’t a day that goes by