As you now know, wine, like food, is a pleasure for the senses, a sensual pleasure. We use our eyes, our noses, and our palates as often as we eat. Enjoying a glass of wine requires the exact same tools—nothing more, nothing less. We’ve been given a complimentary toolbox! We all have the senses, if we are lucky, of sight and smell, to enjoy a wine’s beauty and perfume, and a palate, to taste and feel a wine. For hedonistic enjoyment, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. For serious wine evaluation and further education, however, sit up, see, swirl, sniff, taste, and jot down what you are experiencing.

 

 

 

 

 

Prosecco is a light, fizzy wine from Italy, and is a fraction of the cost of Champagne.

This La Tordera is subtle and seductive with notes of lily, white rose, white nectarine, Asian pear and lemon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This blend of 89% Sangiovese, 8% Pinot Noir, and 3% Syrah has notes of freshly picked raspberry, cherry, and tart cranberry, pomegranate, and pink grapefruit. It is a dry rosé that is perfect for spicy dishes such as Basil Curried Chicken with Coconut Rice or Warm Jasmine Rice with Shrimp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a terrific dry red to pair with even the most elegant, refined dishes. While not a blockbuster, this medium-bodied entry level Rioja has notes of tomato, plum, and tobacco, with a very slight hint of spicy oak vanillans. It is a small-production limited distribution wine so it may be hard to find.

 

 

 

 

 

about grape goddess®

Catherine Fallis is the fifth woman in the world to have earned the title of Master Sommelier, and the first person in the world to have also earned the Advanced Certified Wine Professional title from the Culinary Institute of America. She is Founder and President of planet grape® LLC, a wine consulting firm providing education, content, sommelier services, and innovative custom cellar systems from Revel Cellars for restaurants, wine bars, retail locations and personal collections.

 

Fallis is Contributing Editor for Sommelier Journal, a frequent contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and numerous others, and co-author most recently of Great Boutique Wines You Can Buy Online (Silverback Books). She is an adjunct instructor at the Culinary Institute of America and the Professional Culinary Institute, a frequent speaker, event host, and educator for corporations, consumers, and the trade, and is one of a handful of female professional sabreurs in the world. She opens Champagne with a sword in a dazzling 3-minute theatrical performance

 

Introduced to wine while backpacking around Europe in college days, she honed her skills later when she returned to live in Florence and Paris. Upon her return to New York she worked with Chef Alain Sailhac at Le Cirque, Leona Helmsley at the Helmsley Palace Hotel, and Kevin Zraly at Windows on the World. Her last full-time sommelier position was as Michael Mina’s wine director at Aqua in San Francisco.

 

From Manhattan to Honolulu, Hollywood, Aspen, Monaco, and Cannes, Catherine has shared her wine expertise with hundreds of novices and collectors including Heather Locklear, Vanna White, Ivana and Ivanka Trump, Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, Kevin Costner, Robert Redford, Antonio Sabato Jr., Richie Sambora, Chris Botti, and Diana Krall.

 

  

Find Catherine Fallis:

www.planetgrape.com 
grapegoddess@planetgrape.com

http://twitter.com/planetgrape

415.425.5828

 

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