If you're a fan of Californian sparkling wines, you've probably enjoyed a glass or two of Chandon. With over 200,000 bottles produced a year, an affordable price tag, and a tasting room that sees 2,000 people on a Saturday, it's one of Napa Valley's most well-known bubbly producers. What you may not know, however, is that the winery also makes some well-rounded and interesting still wines. I Read more

It's always exciting when a friend shows up to dinner with a surprisingly wonderful wine in tow. When I opened this bottle of 2009 Pinot Noir by Francis Ford Coppola, I was instantly in awe of the luscious liquid. It was smooth and drinkable, but not lacking in complexity. It's made in the style of classic French Pinots with grapes sourced from several different appellations. With red berry Read more

One of my favorite things about wine is that there's so much to learn about it! There's always a new varietal to taste or an exciting region to try. Recently I went to a tasting that featured wines from the Santa Rita Hills. This small, relatively young wine region is located in Central California and was named an official appellation in 2001. Thanks to its close proximity to the Pacific Ocean, Read more

Still searching for that ideal wine to pair with a succulent holiday roast? Consider looking into a Pinot Noir such as the 2008 Special Selection Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from McKinlay ($34). If you've never heard of Washington-based McKinlay Vineyards, you're not alone: the winery makes less than 3,200 cases of wine each year, and they tend to sell out quickly. That's because quaffers like Read more

Although I don't drink too much red wine in the Summer, the other night I made spicy turkey burgers that were just dying to be paired with a lush, rich red. Since I'm a fan of Francis Coppola's sparkling wine, Sofia, I was excited to give another of his varietals, the 2008 Diamond Collection Pinot Noir, a try. The filmmaker's Diamond Collection features single varietal wines that are considered Read more

Lately, I haven't just been drinking a ton of New Zealand wines; I've also been learning a lot about them, too. At a recent wine tasting, I was taken by the aromatic whites and Pinot Noirs of Central Otago, a remote, barren, plains-swept region in the South Island that occupies a valley between the snow-capped mountain ranges where Lord of the Rings was filmed. It's amongst the dry, high plains Read more

My favorite dance scene from the 1963 Ann Margret musical Bye Bye Birdie is entitled "Lot of Livin to Do." In it, she sings of "drinking Champagne as if it were water." But, not just any Champagne — pink Champagne. When I was little, I too, dreamed of drinking pink Champagne as if it were water. Well as luck would have it, sometimes I do! My current favorite "pink Champagne" is actually a Read more