Wine

Taking It Slow at Le Patio in Wilton Manors

Via Luna Debuts at the Ritz

​There's a new moon rising at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale and it's called Via Luna.  The unpretentious, moderately priced Italian grill takes the place of the Ritz's ritzier Cero, which struggled to find an audience despite generally positive word of mouth. Via Luna will host its officia ... More >>

Walla Walla Wineries Dinner at Cafe Boulud

​Cafe Boulud is hosting a wine pairing with two Walla Walla, Washington, wineries this Thursday at 7 p.m.Amavi Cellars and Pepper Bridge Winery will showcase their output alongside chefs Zach Bell and Matthew Petersen's cuisine. The four-course meal will run $85, not including tax and gratuity. Re ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​   Oops, I did it again.  Well, sort of. Several days back I was so jazzed about finding a California Cabernet Sauvignon that didn't bite my grapes I went out and found another one. And this one's even better.  It carries one of the most storied names in California winemaking, ... More >>

Restaurant News: Bellini's Opens on Federal, Pollo Tropical Lends a Hand, Jackson Tasting in Oakland Park

•    The coal-fired pizza craze continues to be hotter than a. . . coal-fired oven. The latest example is Bellini's Coal-Fired Pizza, now dishing up those crisp-crusted pies on North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. The menu goes beyond the usual pizzeria suspects with dishes lik ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​Here's a blast from the past. Back in the 1980s, when I was living in Northern California wine country, Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon was the cork dorks' go-to red for every-day drinking. The second label of expensive-even-then Caymus, it offered its parents' high-toned pedigree at a price we ... More >>

Wine Spectator Releases Top 100 in Time for the Holidays

​Walking through Total Wine in Boca Raton last night, I felt like Homer Simpson in the Land of Chocolate. I simply didn't have enough hands to grab everything I wanted. And then I came across this: Wine Spectator's Top 100 Releases of 2009. For a reasonable $5.95 a copy, this glossy, perfect-bound ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck: Kamiak Windust White

​A little of this, a little of that, and sometimes you get a damned good little wine.   That's the deal at Washington's Kamiak winery, where they blended a bit of Chardonnay, a rasher of Sauvignon Blanc, and a dash of late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc and came up with Windust White, a pleasan ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​If there's anything suckier than cheap sparkling wine it probably ought to be illegal.  You've probably had your share, whether the ubiquitous black bottle or the fruit-infused swill that makes Kool-Aid taste like Chateau d'Yquem or any of the legion of insipid imitators lurking on supermark ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​When Piero Antinori produced the first Tignanello in the 1971, it was a real kick in the ass to rule- and tradition-bound Tuscan winemakers, most of whom had long been make Chianti in accordance with government regulation. At first 100 percent Sangiovese, later blended with varying amounts of Cab ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​Three of the iconic white wine grapes in France's Goats Do Roam region are Viognier, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. Uh, actually, that would be Cotes du Rhone, but to a South African vintner with a sense of humor (and an apparent affection for mondegreens), it would be a cool thing to tweak the st ... More >>

L'Hermitage Pairs Organic Veggies and Wine

If you're not a subscriber to our weekly Café Bites dining newsletter for Broward and Palm Beach counties, here's a taste of what you missed this week. Click here to subscribe.Photo by Flickr user Mia Elliott​Organic. It's not just for vegetables any more. It's for wine too, and put both of them ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​ No wine gets a blanc stare faster than Chenin Blanc. It may be the white wine grape of France's Loire Valley, but in these parts, you see it about as often as snow drifts on Ocean Drive. It had a few minutes of fame in the 1960s and 1970s and showed up in more than its share of cheap white wine ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​As part of his continuing campaign to free wine drinkers from the shackles of chardonnay, Clean Plate Charlie presents. . . torrontes.   WTF?   TF, not to put too fine a point on it, is the biggest white wine grape in (and the only indigenous grape to) Argentina. If you've nev ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​Pinot noir that actually tastes like pinot noir is becoming about as rare as brain cells at a birthers' convention, as winemakers pimp out this most perfect of all varietals with gobs of fruit and cords of oak and enough alcohol to stir into a martini.  Cheap pinot noir that actually tastes ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

​The story of Robert Mondavi is as depressing as it is inspirational. Probably no single person did more to put California on the world wine map, not only as a vintner who produced wines that rivaled some of the best of Europe but as an evangelist of New World wines, an industry power who used his ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck: South America's Mighty Malbec

​Every wine-producing region has its iconic wine. The Napa Valley has Cabernet Sauvignon; France, Bordeaux; Italy, Chianti; Spain, Rioja; Australia, Shiraz; Chile, Carménère. And Argentina has malbec.   Like its South American cousin, malbec is one of the "noble grapes" of Bordeaux (al ... More >>

This Week in Boozing/Dining Events

​Summer is here, and apparently that means its time to get loaded on wine, scotch, and beer pairings. Check out these events taking place over the next week, and bring an extra liver, if you can.• Himmarshee Bar & Grille is teaming up with B.R. Cohn Winery for a four course wine dinner ... More >>

Six Glasses of Wine with Dinner?

What a Capital Idea!

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck: The Underdog Sauvignon Blanc

Photo by Bill Citara​Sauvignon Blanc is forever the underdog, settling for whatever flickers of limelight its better-known Chardonnay partner might cast aside.  But Sauvignon Blanc actually has much to offer. For one, it's almost always cheaper than Chardonnay, which can demand premium prices ... More >>

Charlie's Guide to Speaking Wine, or, How to Bullshit Wine Drinkers

​The world of wine speaks a language all its own. Urdu, mostly. With a soupcon of bullshit and a faint whiff of pretension.  So in keeping with Clean Plate Charlie's commitment to calling a spade a goddamned shovel, he presents this modest glossary of wine terms for your amusement, edificatio ... More >>

Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck: Good, Cheap Pinot

Photo by Flickr user chickeninthewoodsCheap pinot noir is a moron. Cheap, good pinot noir is an oxymoron.     Pinot noir, you see, is the Sarah Palin of grapes -- flighty, erratic, unpredictable, hard to handle -- though unlike the nitwit from Wasilla, the result can be anything ... More >>

Wine Guy: Pairing with Pizza

John LinnSven Vogtland is the Advanced Sommelier at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale, and a 13-year veteran of the craft who has recommended bottles in the sunny Virgin Islands and in far-away Vietnam. In this column, Vogtland will discuss the latest trends in wine, from what bottles and regions are ... More >>

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Christine's Stag's Leap Wine Tasting and Prix Fixe Menu

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Through the Grapevine

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No Dalmatians at this event

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Harrison's Wine Gallery

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Wine-ing aside, diners can dip into something wonderful at Fúsha

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For South Florida foodies, 2003 looks to be a very happy new year indeed

Tap into This

Tipple at this Fort Lauderdale eatery and you might get soaked

Woe, Mexico

Las Palmas needs a refresher course in quality Mexican cuisine

Best Wine Selection in a Restaurant

Michael's Kitchen

Foodstuff

Florida Grape Growers Association

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