When the Spanish Tourism Board reached out and asked WAG wine columnist Doug Paulding to participate in a media trip to the Basque country and La Rioja wine region of Spain, he replied with an unequivocal, enthusiastic “yes.”
Recently, WAG wine columnist Doug Paulding had the opportunity to meet Chilean winemaker Eduardo Chadwick, president of Viña Errázuriz, and taste six of his legendary Seña wines.
At Restaurant Gabriel Kreuther in Manhattan, WAG wine columnist Doug Paulding savored Kreuther’s multilayered dishes, paired with Champagne Bollinger’s 2014 La Grand Année.
WAG wine columnist Doug Paulding has sipped with the industry’s movers and shakers. But he writes, “I got downright giddy when I was invited to a one-on-one tasting in Manhattan with Paul Hobbs of Paul Hobbs Winery and Hillick & Hobbs.”
Wines from Austria, South Africa, the Pacific Northwest or Portugal can often be more attractively priced than wines from Napa, California, France, Italy and Spain. Similarly, wines made from the Blaufränkisch, Barbera, Assyrtiko and Picpoul grapes often will stretch your dollars compared to the noble and well-known grapes.
All the world’s a wine stage and Long Island’s a major player on it.
Wine columnist Doug Paulding writes: “Find a well-stocked store like The Wine Connection in Pound Ridge, Total Wines in Norwalk or Zachy’s in Scarsdale that offers case discounts, and you can be essentially savoring a $250 bottle (of Super Tuscan wine) for $50 or $60.”
A new breed of mixologists is veering from traditional drink recipes to create its own cocktails – just as its counterparts do in the kitchen. Our wine and spirits columnist Doug Paulding calls these experimenters the “Liquid Chefs.”
Recently, WAG’s wine and spirits columnist Doug Paulding renewed old acquaintance with Chilean wines and found them to be good and, in some cases, even better.
Or how a third-generation French vintner turned a piece of Argentine desert into a prosperous winery.
Everyone knows Madeira and Port. But the other wines from the Duoro Valley (seen here) and Vinho Verde in Portugal deserve their places in the sun, too, says WAG Wine & Dine columnist Doug Paulding.
The virus made covering the wine and spirits industries tough for our Wine & Dine columnist Doug Paulding. But he rose to the challenge.
As Doug Paulding, our resident Dionysus, has discovered, “in these Covid times, all purveyors of wine have had to reinvent themselves to some degree and introduce new buying concepts.” But then the wine industry has long been a sophisticated one.
Far Niente, a producer of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay based in Oakville, (Napa) California, proves you can judge a wine by its label.
Wine & Dine columnist Doug Paulding finds that Masi Amarone and Divine Chocolate make a smooth pairing.
Sample this trio of sherries for a winter glow.
It’s a tough job but someone had to sample lots of clear and brown liquors for a new “Spirits Tasting Journal” (Peter Pauper Press). Fortunately, WAG’s Wine & Dine columnist Doug Paulding was up to the task and now out with the new book.
Marriages come and go. But Champagnes, like those of Maison Lanson, are forever.
If you want to learn about food and wine in an entertaining setting while driving, exercising or cooking dinner, David Ransom and Melanie Young’s internet radio show “The Connected Table” is the place.
Even wine-tasting can be numbing when you have to judge it precisely, as Wine & Dine columnist Doug Paulding discovered recently at the Amateur Home Wine Maker Competition. But it was one way to meet new vintages – and new people.