Jazz Uncorked

Wines of the Southern Rhone

by Matt Penman
May 11, 2022

The Rhone river brings its alpine waters from Switzerland through the southern half of France and dumps out into the Mediterranean by the charming town of Arles. The whole Rhone region is lovely, but if we're talking wine one must distinguish between the north and south. From Lyon down to the town of Valence the Syrah grape is the star, with rich whites of Marsanne and Viognier playing supporting roles. However immediately to the south things open up, ...

Red Wines From Etna

by Matt Penman
August 10, 2021

One of the weirdest wine regions in the world, the vines of Etna on the Italian island of Sicily grow on the slopes of the huge active volcano which is constantly belching gases and ash, and occasionally letting loose lava flows that can threaten all the hard work of the daring winemakers that choose to work there. The resulting soils however are ridiculously rich, and different micro climates around the mountain make it a terroir geek's paradise: for instance some ...

Hooray for Beaujolais!

by Matt Penman
July 8, 2021

This region hasn't always had the best reputation, and if you think the wine comes as jugs of thin, insipid juice that they truck out with forced smiles just as it's getting inappropriately cold in jny: Paris, well, sometimes it does. But Beaujolais Nouveau just isn't worth the calories, darling. Spend some time instead exploring the 10 different villages or “crus" where people have been making high quality wine from the Gamay grape for centuries, using traditional methods as well ...

Chenin Blanc from the Loire

by Matt Penman
June 10, 2021

The wild Loire river runs from the Atlantic ocean deep into France's center, and there is beautiful, diverse, and historically under-appreciated wine throughout its entire length. But the middle section, from Angers to the city of Tours, is where Chenin Blanc rules. A varietal with a real talent for expressing the land, it sucks up available minerals and gives wines of generosity or austerity depending on the soil and location--not to mention the personality of the winemaker. Exposed ...

Wine Club Selections: July 2004

by Michael Ricci
August 11, 2004

Each month we'll pair two recent jazz CDs with the latest releases from the AAJ Wine Club . This month we're pairing Rancho Sisquoc Winery's Cabernet Sauvignon with Moacir Santos's Ouro Negro and Cosentino Winery's Meritage White with George Shearing's Like Fine Wine. For more information about how you can taste these and other delicious wines from the AAJ Club, click here . Your wine club membership directly supports All About Jazz. So enjoy ...

Wine Club Selections: June 2004

by Michael Ricci
August 11, 2004

Each month we'll pair two recent jazz CDs with the latest releases from the AAJ Wine Club . This month we're pairing Fess Parker's Mackie's Blend Central Coast Syrah with The Frank & Joe Show's 33 1/3 and Lange Winery's Pinot Blanc with David Hazeline's Close To You.

Fess Parker Mackie's Blend Central Coast Syrah 2000

Specifications Appellation: Central Coast, CA. Vinetard Sources: 36% Rodney's (Santa Ynez Valley), 31% Meeker (Paso Robles), ...

Wine Club Selections: May 2004

by Michael Ricci
August 11, 2004

Each month we'll pair two recent jazz CDs with the latest releases from the AAJ Wine Club . This month we're pairing Quivira's Zinfandel with Andy Bey's American Song and Zaca Mesa Vineyards's Santa Ynez Valley Chardonnay with Mark Isaacs's Keeping The Standards.

For more information about how you can taste these and other delicious wines from the AAJ Club, click here .

Your wine club membership directly supports All About Jazz. So enjoy fine quality wine while helping the ...

Wine Club Selections: February 2004

by Michael Ricci
March 9, 2004

Each month we'll pair two recent jazz CDs with the latest releases from the AAJ Wine Club . This month we're pairing Zenaida Cellars' Estate Merlot with Jim Ridl's Door In A Field and Clos LaChance's Chardonnay with Abbey Lincoln's It's Me.

For more information about how you can taste these and other delicious wines from the AAJ Club, click here .

Your wine club membership directly supports All About Jazz. So enjoy fine quality wine while helping the site! ...

Wine Club Selections: January 2004

by Michael Ricci
February 24, 2004

Each month we'll pair two recent jazz CDs with the latest releases from the AAJ Wine Club . This month we're pairing Pretty-Smith's Cabernet Sauvignon with the Moutin Reunion Quartet's Red Moon and Louis M. Martini's Folle Blanche with Tierney Sutton's Dancing in the Dark.

For more information about how you can taste these and other delicious wines from the AAJ Club, click here .

Your wine club membership directly supports All About Jazz. So enjoy fine quality wine while ...

Mutt Lynch's 2000 Portrait Of A Mutt Goes With Ramsay Midwood's Shoot Out At The OK Chinese Restaurant

by David Ginochio
January 9, 2003

The other day on the way home from work I stopped into the grocery store to pick up a few odds and ends, and made the inevitable side trip to the wine aisle. A wine label featuring a somewhat abstract photomontage of a dog, along with a rather cutesy, dog specific slogan, definitely inspired the “too clever, I must wince now" reflex. But then I read that the wine itself was a zinfandel/carignane blend, at about 14 1/2 percent alcohol, ...