Wine Scene

Good Year & Great Wine
[Nov. 30, 2006] Provence is one of my most favorite places in the world. The scenery is grand, the history unending, the people warm and friendly, the food is of the best of France, and the wines are wonderful. You’ll see all of that in the new feature film starring Russell Crowe (as Max) titled after the Peter Mayle novel, A Good Year. By Dave Ethridge

The Schweiger Story
[Nov. 16, 2006] Those who have read this column know that I thoroughly enjoy a good bottle of wine. And, if there is a good story to go along with that bottle of wine, all the better. By Dave Ethridge

Wine tasting ‘South of the Border’
[Nov. 2, 2006] As you drive south from Detroit and cross the Ambassador Bridge, you enter Southeastern Ontario and the newest, most exciting wine region in the Midwest. By Dave Ethridge

Football and wine
[Oct. 19, 2006] Each year, about this time, somebody always asks me what wines they should serve with football game snacks. By Dave Ethridge

Michigan wines — pure gold
[Oct. 5, 2006] It’s been a colossal year for Michigan wines in wine competitions all across the country. To date, Michigan wines have won an amazing 119 Gold Medals in wine judgings from New York, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, Washington, D.C., and several wine competitions in California. Michigan wines are making a name for themselves all across the country. By Dave Ethridge

New Lapeer winery a winner
[Sep. 7, 2006] The little town of Lapeer has a long history of winemaking. It started more than 100 years ago when Lapeer lawyer Robert Taylor planted five acres of grapes and the first Lapeer vintage was created. Grape-growing continued and prospered for years, mostly Concord grapes, although some were used for wine making. Prohibition killed off the grape-growing industry and most of the home wine making that was being done. By Dave Ethridge

Great golf, great wines
[Aug. 24, 2006] It has been a great season for professional golf in Michigan. First the par-three shoot-out up at Treetops, then the seniors down at the TPC in Dearborn and recently Tiger’s triumphant romp through Warwick Hills. By Dave Ethridge

The Lovely Rosés of summer
[Aug. 11, 2006] Friends are often surprised when they ask for my favorite summer wine and I tell them rosé. The delightful pale pink wine just seems to be a natural on a warm, sunny afternoon, but then, maybe that has more to do with my fond memories of sitting at a small sidewalk café in Avignon, France, just down the hill from the grand 14th century papal palace from where the French popes ruled the Catholic Church for a period of history. By Dave Ethridge

A visit to the Chateau
[Jul. 20, 2006] We were driving along this nice highway, through woods, over rivers and around hills,when suddenly, just off to the left and up a slight rise, stood this utterly majestic, white stone,mansardroofed building that looked just like the famous chateaux pictured on some of the wine labels from Bordeaux, France. By Dave Ethridge

The other wines from Burgundy
[Jun. 29, 2006] The great wines of Burgundy come from a relatively small area in the center of a much larger district, all of which can utilize the name Burgundy (or Bourgogne) on the label. Those great wines from the Côte d’Or (golden hills) have, for centuries, been the hallmark of fine wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape varieties. They’re world-famous, highly-sought, and generally fairly expensive. By David Ethridge

What the heck is Bourgogne?
[Jun. 15, 2006] That was the question the caller started the conversation with — only he pronounced it something like bore-goog-knee. So it took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about. The name Bourgogne (pronounced bore-goin) is French for Bur-gundy; and what the caller had was a very good bottle of French Burgundy, but was unable to decipher the words on the label — a very common problem with French wines. By David Ethridge

Roaming down the Rhône
[May 25, 2006] The Rhône River valley is one of the most important wine growing areas in the world. The Rhône runs almost straight southward for some 125 miles, from the foothills of the Alps to the Medi-terranean, with both sides of the river covered in vineyards almost the entire way. By David Ethridge

Wines of the Great Southwest
[May 11, 2006] If you’re thinking cowboys and Indians, desert and cactus, you’re in the wrong Southwest. Since we’ve been concentrating on France for the past several columns, the South-west (or more properly the Sud-Ouest) of France has recently resurged as a producer of outstanding wines. By Dave Ethridge

The new wines from Southern France
[Apr. 27, 2006] They make an ocean of wine in Southern France. Although the region is now being looked at as the new wine frontier with its exciting new wines, the region has been producing wine for centuries. By David Ethridge