In the early days of this column, Randall Grahm, eclectic owner of Bonny Doon Winery, made wine news for his departure from planting traditional California grape varietals, opting instead for Rhone varietals such as carignan, grenache and syrah.

Ask the man on the street to name an Italian wine and, if able to do so, “Chianti” will likely be the answer. There are reasons for this, though not necessarily good ones.

A few weeks back, Janet Tyson Prosser, proprietor of the area’s only specialty wine store, Tyson Fine Wines and Things in Anniston, called me to make an immediate command performance at her shop on what was otherwise a boring morning spent with crippling writer’s block.

The Prosecco DOC Consortium has announced the first-ever National Prosecco Week will be celebrated next week, June 11-16. The Prosecco Consortium oversees the production of this wildly popular Italian sparkling wine.

A few weeks back, I was wishing for spring and the accompanying warm weather that ushers in the season. Actually our spring, if indeed there was one, brought only cold, wet weather and a generous coating of pollen.

When this column first appeared in the Star 17 years ago, I was a neophyte to varietal specific glassware. I, like a lot of my contemporaries, bought wholeheartedly into the Riedel Glassworks Company’s philosophy that cabernet should be poured only into glasses specifically designed for cabe…

Tannins in wine get a bad rap. They are blamed for headaches and a world of other sins, but they play a vital role in the development and longevity of red wines.

One of the most ubiquitous condiments, if indeed it can be classified as a condiment, is Angostura aromatic bitters. For those who may have noticed this small, unassuming bottle in the cocktail mixers section of your grocery, perhaps we should first tackle its pronunciation: ang-go-store-ah.

In my childhood household, the Easter meal was a second runner-up to the Christmas meal, differing only in the Easter feast being followed with an egg hunt for real boiled eggs colored with food coloring.

As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, I face an identity crisis. My ancestor surnames include Morris and Campbell. I have always felt the very Irish “Morris” certified my right to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day (not to mention imbibing a bit of Irish whiskey in a cup of coffee), while the “Campb…

Few things are more comforting on a cold winter evening than a deliciously braised piece of beef and a good bottle of red wine.

If asked to name the king of California wine, I would likely name the late Robert Mondavi — not Kanaye Nagasawa, who was known as the King of California Wine until his death in 1934.

In the premiere appearance of this column in March 2001, I was tasked with recommending locally available wines for stocking a wine cellar. Most of the wines I recommended then would not receive my nod of approval today — with the rare exception of Bogle merlot.

With all the wine on the American market today, chardonnay remains the best-selling varietal by volume. That it remains Americans’ favorite can be explained by four words: Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve.

Now that turkey leftovers have been dispatched and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us, the brave among us may be considering hosting a Christmas soiree. Inevitably, there is angst associated with estimating the amount of wine to have on hand for such gatherings.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. If you ask me, Thanksgiving is observed at the wrong time of the year and would be much better received if it occurred in February, because nothing ever happens in February.

With Thanksgiving approaching, visions of that Norman Rockwell scene with family and friends gathered around the table admiring the presentation of a gorgeously bronzed roasted turkey come to mind.

Almost exactly nine years ago, upon returning from a visit to California that included an afternoon at Bugay Vineyards in Sonoma, I wrote, “This is a small production, almost cult winery that grows grapes in what is arguably one of the most beautiful spots on the face of the globe.”

California is home to 4,700 vintners and 5,900 growers, with some 602,000 acres under vines scattered over 49 of its 58 counties.

All wine marketed in the United States is required by federal law to carry its place of origin on its label. But “place of origin” can be rather non-specific.

One can hardly watch TV without noticing commercials for Ancestry.com. If you are perhaps laboring under the impression that you are Italian because you like spaghetti and your first name is Leonardo, Ancestry.com can, through DNA analysis, dispel those myths, determining that you are not It…

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when putting ice into wine or, God forbid, freezing wine was considered the ultimate wine faux pas.