Enobytes Wine Blog

BOSTON, Mass. (November 24, 2009) – Tucked away in a tiny little store in Boston’s North End, a shopper finds a treasure not spotted by many. “I never thought in a million years I’d ever witness such a finding”, says local wine shopper Gregory Young. “I just happened to be shopping for a Grüner Veltliner when I came across this magnificent find at my local wine store”, exclaimed Gregory.

What Mr. Young found was a 10-year Beaujolais Nouveau vertical, a find that most will never experience during their lifetime. Ok, I’ll admit the story didn’t go quite like this but with the recent release of the ’09 Beaujolais Nouveau, I thought it would be fun to share stories and this one comes from one of our loyal readers, VinRaptor. Hopefully, it will make your day as it did mine. Read the rest of this entry »

Holiday dinner pairings…if you fret the challenge of finding the perfect pairing, you’re not alone. It’s daunting to think about what goes with what; turkey is sort of like chicken, so should I serve it with a Chardonnay? Can I serve the same wine with oyster dressing as I would a sausage dressing? What about smoked meats? Sauces? Candied yams? Pumpkin pie?

These decisions would make anyone go nuts. Holiday meals are usually so varied when it comes to flavor, texture, sweetness level, acidity and oil content that it’s almost impossible to find the perfect match as the combinations are endless. If you’re looking for a few really good versatile wines that will pair with a myriad of foods, check out my recommendations from the slideshow below. There’s bound to be a few wines you’ll love and your guests will be impressed with your wine-savvy knowledge.

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If you love Pinot noir as much as I do, you won’t want to miss the 23rd Annual International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) happening July 24 – 26 in McMinnville, Oregon. It’s the crème de la crème of all Pinot festivals showcasing premium Pinot noir producers from Oregon, California, Burgundy, New Zealand, Austria, Champagne and Alsace.

This will be my first year attending the event and I am very much looking forward to it. Not only is this a unique opportunity for Pinot producers to show off their wines and for chefs to showcase their exceptional cuisine, it’s an opportunity to mingle with those in the industry including a number of highly regarded media guests.

This year, Jancis Robinson, Master of Wine, will be the 2009 Master of Ceremonies, joined by speaker David Schildknecht from The Wine Advocate. Read the rest of this entry »

Gary Vaynerchuk, who runs the infamous Wine Library TV is hosting this month’s WBW and our theme is interestingly enough, French Cabernet Franc, a variety always waiting in the wings to take over the infamous Cabernet Sauvignon.

Photo credit: The Wine Web

Like most wine regions of France, Roman conquerors originally developed the Loire valley before Monks stepped in and took over its culture. By far, France has the most Cabernet Franc plantings of any wine producing region in the world, most of which resides in the St. Emilion, Loire Valley and south west France, where Cabernet Franc is also known as Bouchet, Bouchy, or Breton. Read the rest of this entry »

Celebration dates such as anniversaries and births deserve a gift that will never be forgotten. The gift of a wine from the same vintage that commemorates either of these celebrations is enduring and thoughtful. As spring approaches, we all have commitments well into the summer that fit this description.

As most of us will agree the bubbly elixir of life, a.k.a. Champagne, usually comes to mind but as the occasion dictates this event is a celebration of commemoration. That would require a gift with a vintage that matches the date and only age worthy wine would be appropriate. Vintage Champagne of good quality and in good shape (older than 1988) might only be a fantasy. This would be ok for twenty year anniversaries, but you would have to exclude Read the rest of this entry »

Compagnie de Transport Maritime a la Voile (CTMV), a French shipping company created the world’s first fleet of sail-driven merchant ships to transport Languedoc wines. The initiative is to support a sustainable economic development project.

Since CO² emissions from transport are expected to rise by 50% in Europe by 2010, the Treaty of Amsterdam project was introduced to integrate environmental considerations into community policies.

Using fleet that support renewable energy and biofuels, CTMV acquired a set of sailing vessels which meets environmental requirements and supports the Treaty of Amsterdam project, with an expectation of saving nearly 5 ounces of carbon per wine bottle compared to traditional shipping methods. Additionally, CTMV uses the Canal du Midi to transport client goods on to the fleet, which, in itself burns five times less fuel than traditional shipping. The canal connects the Garonne River to the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean.

CTMV’s first voyage from Bordeaux to Dublin is already in transit, expected to arrive in Dublin next month, and future ports of call including England, Sweden and Demark will certainly assist in the initiative to save carbon. Read the rest of this entry »

I think it’s safe to say that most of us collect and covet special wines for various reasons, whether for their pedigree, or our loyalty to a favorite vineyard, or that elusive, sensual, ‘je ne se qua’ of a great wine at its prime.

But when do we decide ‘This is a good time to open "That" ‘ ?! (With respect to Victor Borge – We’d have fun listening to him vocalize THOSE punctuation marks!) Well let me tell you a story…. Read the rest of this entry »