Blog Title: Podcast: Wine for Newbies

Myth Busting: The truth about Dom Perignon

Dom Perignon, the abbot of a monastery at Hautvillers, France, is often credited with inventing Champagne. It’s a nice accolade, but unfortunately Dom Perignon is not the responsible party. In fact, Dom Perignon tried like mad to keep the wines from going fizzy since the fizzy wines had the tendency to make bottles explode. The winemakers read more..

Announcement: The Wine For Newbies Wine Tasting Course

Want to really learn about wine? As I hinted recently, I’m working on a new project that it’s time to announce. The working (and probably final) title is The Wine For Newbies Wine Tasting Course. It will be an ebook, downloadable and viewable with any PDF reader. Another “learn about wine” book? Yes–but with a difference. Almost read more..

The very best wine glasses ever

As I was assembling the Wine For Newbies Marketplace, I was thrilled to see that Amazon carries the Riedel Overture Magnum red wine glasses. Although I raved about these a bit on the Marketplace page, I just have to give them a big promotion here. These wine glasses are hands down the best ones I own. read more..

Wine gift marketplace opened

With the holidays rushing upon us, I thought I’d try to help you with some wine-related gift ideas. You can visit the Wine For Newbies Marketplace to acquire books from Amazon.com and elsewhere. There’s more to be added, so check back frequently. Happy shopping!

Lesson Six: Riesling Part 1

With this article we begin our study of Riesling, one of the “Big Six” grape varietals that are frequently made into wine. Riesling has a long and noble history, and it enjoys a strong, loyal following of wine enthusiasts. Riesling’s characteristics Although Riesling can be made in a number of styles, there are certain core characteristics that read more..

Top 10 wine people you should follow on Twitter

Twitter seems to be well on its way to becoming one of the prime ways for people to communicate. While there is plenty of noise on Twitter, there is also plenty of good information. I constantly find interesting things to read, check out, and the like just by reviewing the “tweets” left by other Twitter read more..

2008 Holiday Wine Guide now available!

The just-released Wine For Newbies 2008 Holiday Wine Guide is now available. How much will it cost? Nothing! What’s the catch? It’s available only to email subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, you should have received an email telling you how to get it. If you are not a subscriber, use that email subscription widget in the right read more..

Happy Thanksgiving

Here in the U.S. we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow. Many web writers take a moment to share their thoughts of gratitude and appreciation. I’m not going to go all over creation with a long list of things I’m thankful for, but there are a few worth mentioning. I’m grateful for the many years that my grandmother, Ann read more..

More on Thanksgiving dinner and wines

The wellness writer for the New York Times has a nice roundup of opinions.

The secret to choosing a good wine

Of all the questions faced by the new wine enthusiast, perhaps the most asked, yet unspoken, question is, How do I choose a good wine? Your average wine shop will stock several hundred different wines. They come from all over the world: California, New Zealand, France, Chile, Italy, South Africa, Austria, Argentina, Hungary, Australia, China, Mexico, read more..