With any great European wine region, change can be difficult and slow. In France, change happens at a glacial pace, slowly over generations. In Italy, it’s a bit faster but still controlled by the federal government and mountains of bureaucracy and paperwork. In Spain, it’s a bit different. It’s not that change happens fast in […]
Every quarter Cotroneo’s Wine and Spirits in White Bear Lake is kind enough to let me take over a section of the store. This set up is called, creatively, “Jason’s Picks” (I came up with that one) and consists of ten wines that I select around a particular theme. We kick off the quarter with […]
The Twin Cities Wine Awards Grand Tasting was all we hoped it would be and more. Last Monday night the best of the local wine scene along with fantastic consumers celebrated, high fived, hugged, and laughed. And it was magical. Photo: the power trio of local wine lists. Desta Klein of Meritage (best wine list, […]
It’s a week of micro-announcements, as opposed to the long format essay of weeks past. Easy to read and digest! Call it the Cliff Notes version of the newsletter. Here ya go. ** Congrats to the freshly minted new Somms of 2018! Last Saturday dozens of hopefuls gathered in Wayzata for the Court of Master […]
Over the decades we’ve visited hundreds of wineries around the world, and whether they are in Australia, Sonoma, France, Oregon, Washinton, Itay, or South Africa the best wineries producing the best wine have a few things in common. Here’s a fun little outline for you plus a nice little twist at the end. #1 Cleanliness […]
The much anticipated Best of the Twin Cities issue of City Pages just hit the stands. I grabbed it fast and rushed to the Food and Drink section, eager to see who is getting some deserved props. In years past this issue has always done a pretty good job. In 2017 Troubadour won Best Wine Bar — […]
We’re proud to announce local wine legend Chris Griese has joined Twin Cities Wine Education! There is nobody, absolutely nobody, that has impacted my wine life more than this guy. Chris is legendary in the local wine scene, being the former VP of Sales for the original incarnation of World Class Wines in addition to being respected […]
