Author: Mel (Page 9 of 24)

Two Sisters Margo rosé bottle and tasting notes

Best rosés in 2020

June 14, 2020 / Mel / 6 Comments

You asked for it, so here they are: my top rosé picks for 2020.

Agronika food pairing experiment – video

June 5, 2020 / Mel / 7 Comments

To celebrate the upcoming weekend, I did a virtual food and wine pairing experiment with Novaripa‘s Agronika Terre di Chieti Passerina*. This lovely white wine from the Abruzzo region in Italy is dangerously drinkable, especially when paired with food!

*I capitalized the grape variety here because it is part of the wine’s title, as it appears on the label.

The video

Grape varieties: to capitalize or not to capitalize?

May 27, 2020 / Mel / 23 Comments

Is it merlot or Merlot? Grenache or grenache? And is it sauvignon blanc, Sauvignon blanc or Sauvignon Blanc? As a language professional, it is my job to know: are the names of grape varieties capitalized? Admittedly, I have tried to find the rule many times, but have never come up with a satisfactory answer. So it’s time to set the record straight once and for all by summarizing my research and issuing my professional recommendation.

Skip to the answer.

Loios Red – a quality and affordable wine from Portugal

May 8, 2020 / Mel / 5 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself at the local liquor store, stocking up for…well…the Apocalypse. With the new social distancing measures in place, the line-ups at the cash had customers snaking up and down the aisles. Taking my place in line (2 metres behind the person in front of me, of course), I found myself in the Portugal section and perused the shelves while waiting for my turn. My eyes quickly darted from price tag to price tag. Were these prices for real?? Was I dreaming? Everything was under $15! In the name of research, I grabbed a bottle of Portuguese red wine on the lower end of the price range, thinking to myself it would probably be undrinkable.

I was wrong.