Winemonger.com

So tomorrow night is opera: Parsifal at the Met, and while preparing myself for five hours of exquisite pleasure and spiritual renewal where normal folks would find only tedium and bellowing, I began to think about the last time I saw the work. Which was not quite a year ago, on Easter Sunday in Vienna. And I think about how many aspects of our lives carry cultural significance, and that they sometimes meet of an evening... and it’s got ...

What is now the Mosel used to be the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. These wines used to be in the green bottles, while the Rhine and environs were bottled in brown glass, and the color of the glass gave a hint as to the character of the liquid inside. Somebody recently decided that as of 2006 three names were too many—though certainly the Saar and Ruwer (these rivers being tributaries of the Mosel) offer wines just as distinguished, with characteristics just ...

My mouth is still bitter when I think of the trip to the winery of Giobatta Vio in beautiful Liguria, Italy. The birthplace of pesto-- the land of artichoke. I think of the salted breezes and fresh seafood that comes with that scent, and the incredible bottles of Pigato, Vermentino and Rossese that were tasted. And of course, the meal: a five course feast featuring the wines and local bounty. And yes, ...

"And what to say about nine days in a city whose name itself stands for wine?" Here we give you an insiders guide of where the locals eat and drink in Vienna. You could read travel guides until the cows come home, without scratching the true depth of what really happens when them there cows meet their Metzger and hit the table...

Every other year the Vienna Hofburg hosts this extraordinary gathering of the clans, where the several disparate elements of Austrian wine-culture come together and the international crowd descends to gather information and news, and occasionally tie one on and night the dance away...

Wherein James Wright travels to Vienna, goes to his favorite haunt and pairs up Spargel (asparagus) with something other than the always-suggested Gruner Veltliner...