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To all Wine Exchangers, Since the whole category of Italian wines encompasses a remarkably broad spectrum, we get questions at all levels from basic stuff to complex analysis of regions or producers.  Italian wines are a lot more difficult to master for most folks.  But one of the persistent requests from customers we receive is […]

So we were sitting around the other day thinking about what we could do to give people useful wine and food pairing suggestions.  Having written pieces like this before, we know the breadth of the subject is daunting because there are so many possibilities.  All the world’s foods with all of the possible pairing selections […]

To all Wine Exchangers, History of Vino Nobile today? Nope, don’t think so. We’re short on time and this deal is hot. The basics: Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is produced primarily from Sangiovese, which is known in the Tuscan town of Montepulciano as Prugnolo Gentile. It has nothing to do with the Montepulciano in Montepulciano […]

To all Wine Exchangers, From time to time people come to us trying to sell their older California wines because they don’t find them interesting any more.   There are also occasional offers from someone who wants to liquidate their older Bordeaux because they can’t fathom the thought of actually drinking wines that are worth such […]

To all Wine Exchangers, The key element we as merchants and you as consumers need to focus on when it comes to the unbeatable value wines of Spain is the unparalleled high quality of the country’s ‘raw materials’ (grapes) that come from unique sites with old vines and mineral-rich, nutrient poor soils.    Whether these wines […]

To all Wine Exchangers, Let me tell you, back in ‘the day’, (ok, around 1987 actually) there was nothing cooler to have on your retail wine shelf than Jermann’s Vintage Tunina.  This was the hippest, baddest, totally happening insider white wine on the planet. Hipper than Chalone and Cakebread, which were pretty hip! I remember […]

To all Wine Exchangers, We’ve been selling Oregon wines since the 80’s and can attest to the fact that they have come a long way. In fact, the 1971 edition of the seminal Hugh Johnson Atlas didn’t even have a section on Oregon.  Today, as you know, Oregon is making world class stuff that is […]

To all Wine Exchangers, “A candidate for the best value winery in the United States, the Michael & David Winery is incredibly proficient at turning out full-flavored wines at bargain basement prices. Shrewd consumers take note.” – Robert Parker, November, 2014 We remember when David Phillips (the ‘David’ in Michael & David Winery) first began […]

To all Wine Exchangers, What kind of a man would seek out vineyard land on the side of an active volcano? What kind of a man would buy these old, low-yielding vineyards that produce a variety of grape and wine that 99.9% of Americans (and probably the same amount of Italians!) have never heard of […]

To all Wine Exchangers, A long time ago we learned a few things about Rosé.  The Europeans have a long history of drinking dry pink wines for the summer.  The best are complex and delicate enough to drink alone but equally at ease with the lighter foods of the season…salads, charcuterie, and most things from […]