We see troubling signs ahead. One expects to pay a premium for wines from the Napa Valley, which no one can argue is the premier wine growing region in all of America. However, it’s getting harder for us to recommend wines without any reservation after we look at how much they cost. Sonoma Valley has the perception of being Napa’s more... Read more →

Israel can lay claim, as evidence suggests, to be the first major winemaking region in history. The oldest wine cellar on record dates back to 1700 BC, discovered in the town of Nahariya in Northern Israel. We generally credit the 6th century Roman Catholic Benedictine Monks for giving birth to the modern wine world, but the earliest wine... Read more →

The days of bragging about a four-figure-or-more bottle of wine you just had are over. Showing off your wealth worked in the Reagan era all the way through the Clinton era, but post 9/11 and 2008 recession the world has changed. Humble is in, elitism is out. Remember how Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comment destroyed his 2012 presidential... Read more →

This is the real stuff right here. Unapologetically expensive, unbelievably great. Champagne—a name that has become the object itself, like Kleenex or Post-Its—carries a certain mystique. Ordinary mortals need not apply. This is the drink of Gods and Kings. Something happens when we drink it—it’s a buzz but no ordinary buzz. It’s... Read more →

The Wine House is one of the biggest and most popular independent wine stores in Los Angeles.  Every Fall it hosts an annual, not-to-be-missed wine tasting, the Cabernet Fest.  Nothing but Cab, and lots of it—approximately 135 were poured at this year’s event, the majority coming from some of the most highly regarded names in... Read more →