Bluffer’s Guide to Wine Tasting

After dragging travel expert, but wine novice, Duncan Rhodes around the Douro Valley for a week, Catavino was impressed with how erudite his previously untrained palate became in such a short time… or did it? The Urban Travel Blog editor reveals his top 13 tips for faking it during a wine tasting… Nimbly holding the […] Continue Reading →

What Port to Choose and When

So, you’ve heard all about Port and it sounds fantastic, life-enhancing and a gift from nature, but which one to drink? Sometimes the stuff we build to help make sense of life actually gets in the way of enjoying it. It is useful to categorise port by how it is made and aged but then […] Continue Reading →

Judging the Quality of a Wine by How Much of It you Drink

Several years ago top wine writer Ch’ng Poh Tiong wrote a piece in his Decanter magazine column that basically said that you could (perhaps ‘should’) judge the quality of a wine by how much of it you drank. If your glass was emptied relatively quickly (the abuse of alcohol is dangerous for your health, enjoy wine […] Continue Reading →

A Foreigner’s Guide to Spanish Cheese: Mixed / Mixto (Part 5 of 5)

Our journey has taken us through mountainous terrain and spacious pastures; it has introduced us to the sprightly goat, the demure cow, and the helplesssheep. We have also eaten some of the most amazing cheeses produced in the world today. Our final gaze turns to those cheeses produced from a combination of two or three […] Continue Reading →

Rioja Reserva, Pandering to the Lowest Common Denominator?

It is a fashion, of late, to praise ‘modern’ winemaking and its techniques. Up until very recently – if it isn’t still going on – the argument held that because US wine guru Robert Parker liked a certain style of wine, most wines were made to this standard (Parker wielded great power on behalf of […] Continue Reading →

4th Annual NY Wine Expo: Taking a Trip through Portugal’s Wine Regions

Letting loose wine lovers in a tasting of the size of the New York Wine Expo is like putting a child in the middle of a candy store. It can get ugly. With exactly 760 wines from nearly 200 wineries from around the world, the three-day 4th Annual New York Wine Expo at the Javits […] Continue Reading →

The Olive Harvest in Portugal: A Delightful Aromatic Adventure

Editor’s Note: Last year, Fiona Lynch and her husband Jonathan, two passionate geologists, moved from Scotland to the Lima Valley in Minho region in Portugal. Fiona has kindly been submitting articles to Catavino based on her varied experiences, and we couldn’t be more appreciative. Today, Fiona brings you her take on the Olive harvest in […] Continue Reading →

How Should Albariño Taste? A Palatable Debate

A few weeks ago I found myself in the midst of a blind tasting with five Masters of Wine candidates. I will tell you how I came to be there another time, but part of it was down to my – dare I say childish – love of blind tastings. Once we had spent a […] Continue Reading →

Pairing Portuguese Wines with Roasted Fowl

On cold winter evenings there’s nothing more heartwarming for this writer than a chicken roasting in the oven. The scent of herby seasonings enchant my senses and transport me to my mother’s kitchen in New Jersey where she roasts to perfection just as she learned to do back in the Old Country. In America, roasted […] Continue Reading →

Spain’s Greatest Wine: Vega-Sicilia Unico 2000

It’s not often that the fates conspire to have me taste the latest release of Unico twice in as many months and I would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to share my thoughts on what is (I think we can all agree?) Spain’s greatest wine. Of course, there are pretenders but Vega-Sicilia has […] Continue Reading →