red wine

You've probably heard before that red wine can have an impact on heart health.  But what exactly is it about this beloved beverage that can keep you living better, longer? Studies on red wine began to emerge when scientists realized that the French, despite indulging in rich, buttery, and fatty foods, experience less obesity and live longer than people in...

When you're deep into winter, when temperatures dip low and frost covers the ground...ok, we're in San Diego, but give us a break: it's only been in the 60s this week!  Regardless of just how cold it is where you are, this is the time of year when you start to crave the fresh and wonderful flavors of summer:  juicy...

So you've got an old bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that's been aging in the cellar for years.  You think that dinner party Friday night might be the perfect time to show it off to your guests.  But let's do it right, shall we?  There's no sense in carefully aging a bottle for years if you're just going to plop it...

Wine lovers are often foodies too, and for them, there is nothing more satisfying than a wine perfectly matched to a dish, complementing and enriching the flavors of the food.  Such a meal is truly one of life's great pleasures, feeding both the stomach and the soul.  But with so many wines and so many dishes to choose from, forming...

Last time on the VC blog, we talked about how to pair wine and food.  That got me thinking about the kind of foods I've been craving and cooking this winter: hot soups, hearty braises served over polenta, and rich pear tarts.  The rich comfort foods of winter definitely call for wines that can stand up to deep flavors.  When...

If you live in San Diego and love good wine, you probably steer clear of Pacific Beach.  And I don't blame you.  Garnet Avenue, with its tattoo spots, smoke shops, and hordes of unruly college kids, isn't the most obvious location for a great wine spot.  But lucky for those of us who live in PB for the affordable housing...

So everyone knows that you're supposed to serve white and sparkling wine chilled.  But red is supposed to be served at room temperature, right?  Wrong.  Red wine tastes best served at a temperature between 55º and 65º.  The average room temperature is 70°: great for lounging around without your jacket, bad for red wine. But what's the big deal?  Why is...

Chianti used to be regarded as an inferior wine.  But in the last 40 years, this simple red has undergone what might be bigger changes than any other varietal out there.  Chianti is made mostly from Sangiovese grapes: one of the hardest kinds of wine grapes to grow.  In the past, growers over-cut the Sangiovese vines, and also mixed the...

Sure, the traditional beverage of St. Patrick's day is beer.  Usually it's a frothy pint of Guinness.  And if it's not Guinness, it's most likely dyed green.   And there are some who love their St. Patty's day beer and wouldn't consider parting with it for anything.  But others, faced with a pint glass of green beer, would prefer to...

1.  Uncorking the bottle before  service improves the wine. It's true that aeration before service does improve some wines.  But studies show that the neck of a wine bottle is too narrow to allow enough oxygen to get in contact with the wine to make any detectable difference in the taste and aroma.  If you want to aerate your wine...

So you're on your way to a dinner party.  You stop at a wine shop to pick up a bottle.  But then you stand there, bewildered.  Red or white?  How expensive?  What do your hosts like?  What will go with their dinner? Let us simplify matters for you: First of all, you should not expect that your hosts will serve...

Meet Malbec!  Malbec grapes are a beautiful deep purple color, and they produce a rich, dark wine.  Malbec is commonly used in combination with other grapes to create Bordeaux-style blends, but can stand alone as an exceptional wine as well. The Malbec grape is very thin-skinned, delicate, and easily ruined by frost.  It requires more sunlight than most grapes, and...

16th century wine press I love to cook with wine.  But I admit it, sometimes, pouring a cup or a bottle of perfectly good wine into the cooking pot can seem a little sacrilegious.  Is using your good wine in your food worth it? In a word, yes.  Wine imparts a richness and depth of flavor that is simply hard...

There are a lot of wine accessories and contraptions out there.  It can be tough to tell which ones are just a waste of money, and which can really enhance your wine-drinking experience.  One thing that's not a gimmick?  The idea that different wines should have different glasses. Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with having just the standard four...

We've discussed how your can use your leftover bottles of red and white wine to make delicious homemade wine vinegars.  If you've already tried this, you know that homemade vinegars are infinitely better than anything you can buy at the store.  They make better vinaigrettes and sauces, and are just plain tastier.  Homemade vinegar is easy to make and very...

Recently, a wine bar opened up in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego.  It's called Enoteca Adriano, and I've been eating there a lot because of the great pasta, intimate atmosphere, and of course, the great wine list.  One of my favorite wines they offer also happens to be the least expensive on the list--the 2006 De Canal Montepulciano...

I'm a big sucker for Spanish wines, and when I'm perusing a restaurant wine list, I often find myself flipping past the Pinot Noirs and Merlots in the hopes of finding a nice Tempranillo or Rioja.  Last night at JRDN Restaurant I tried a great Spanish red wine that I couldn't wait to share with you: the 2007 Atteca Old...

If you're looking for a great red wine at a reasonable price, try the 2008 Les Jamelles Pinot Noir.  This is a wine perfect with a light summer meal or to drink on its own--preferably outside with your toes in the grass, watching the setting sun. The first word that comes to mind when drinking this wine would have to...

Here's an easy summer dessert perfect for wine lovers.  The best part?  No hot oven required! Although you might not normally think of drinking a wine with dessert (unless of course, we're talking about dessert wines), fruit and wine make a natural pairing.  They play off each other perfectly: the fruit really brings out the sweet, fruity flavors in the...

Some VERY old bottles. Let's hope they have what it takes to open up well! Aging a bottle of wine has a very distinct, qualitative effect on the contents. But it's a very unpredictable effect. This leaves wine aficionados in a rough place--you don't want to spend the time and the money aging a nice bottle of wine, only to open...