Champagne Bollinger’s very good year
byAt Restaurant Gabriel Kreuther in Manhattan, WAG wine columnist Doug Paulding savored Kreuther’s multilayered dishes, paired with Champagne Bollinger’s 2014 La Grand Année.
Doug Paulding
Wines from a charmed life
byWAG 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.”
A short history of Long Island wines
byAll the world’s a wine stage and Long Island’s a major player on it.
Super Tuscan vintages at bargain prices
byWine 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.”
The new ‘Liquid Chefs’
byA 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.”
Those other Portuguese wines
byEveryone 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 wine industry in the time of Covid
byThe virus made covering the wine and spirits industries tough for our Wine & Dine columnist Doug Paulding. But he rose to the challenge.
Not your parents’ wine stores anymore
byAs 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.
‘Divine’ combo – wine and chocolate
byWine & Dine columnist Doug Paulding finds that Masi Amarone and Divine Chocolate make a smooth pairing.
Fortified (and fortifying) wines
bySample this trio of sherries for a winter glow.
WAG welcomes the new year with a revamp
byWAG reinvents itself with a refreshed look and a breezier style.
Drinking my way to a new book
byIt’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.
Keeping wine lovers ‘Connected’
byIf 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.
Judging wines – and making new friends
byEven 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.
A taste trip to southern Portugal
byIn these COVID-crazy times, the wine world is reinventing itself, like everyone and everything else. And the Wines of Alentejo, representing southern Portugal, is no exception.
Cognac’s not-so-rustic cousin
byWAG’s resident Dionysus, Doug Paulding, is just back from southwestern France, where he discovered Armagnac is not Cognac’s rustic cousin but an elegant brandy with a multifaceted flavor and quality all its own.
Whiskey’s (and whisky’s) moment
byDoug Paulding follows up his “Wine Tasting Journal” (Peter Pauper Press) with a “Spirits Tasting Journal” early next year. So what better way to announce it than with a column on whiskey, er, whisky, which is having another moment.
The return of vermouth
byVermouth was once a vanishing spirit. Our resident Bacchus reconnects with it in Valencia and at a New York trade show.
‘Bobal’-icious
byOur resident Dionysus Doug Paulding headed to Valencia, Spain for the little-known Utiel-Requena wine region’s luscious offerings, made mainly with the Bobal grape.
What’s for dessert? Wine, of course
byNext time you’re invited to dinner, forget the cakes, pies and cookies and bring an ice wine, a Sauternes or a Vin Santo instead.