Wine Scene

350 Years of Winemaking in South Africa
[May 21, 2009] South Africa is both the continent’s leading producer (seventh in the world) and the source of Africa’s finest wines. By Dave Ethridge

What is a Super-Tuscan?
[Apr. 30, 2009] That was the question asked at a recent wine tasting. One of the ladies present went on to say that when she heard the term she pictured a tall, handsome Italian winemaker with a mop of curly hair and long bushy mustache wearing a huge purple cape, flying around the world saving damsels in distress. By Dave Ethridge

Best Buys of the Year Part II: Red Wines
[Mar. 26, 2009] The selection of red wines that appeared in the Best Buys lists in the major wine magazines recently it far more interesting and diverse than the list of white wines reviewed previously in the earlier column. By Dave Ethridge

Best Buys of the Year Part I: White Wines
[Feb. 19, 2009] Once again this year we tabulated the wines listed in the major wine magazines as Best Buys to make up our shopping list as we visited the local wine retailers to see how many of the wines were available in our area. By Dave Ethridge

Wine — from all 50 states
[Jan. 15, 2009] It seems that almost all the wines made in the U.S. come from California and a goodly share of them do. By Dave Ethridge

Biggest Wine Stories 2008
[Jan. 1, 2009] Every year has its share of big stories, the ones that hit the national press or are featured on the evening news on TV — not just reported in the wine magazines. By Dave Ethridge

Make the holidays sparkle
[Dec. 18, 2008] The holiday season is here and everywhere you look there are sparkling ornaments, festive lights and eye-catching displays. By Dave Ethridge

The colorful world of Château Des Karantes
[Dec. 4, 2008] There is color in every direction — the magnificent fields of lavender just to the north; the white sand beach and azure blue of the Mediterranean to the south; the rich green of the olive orchards throughout the countryside; and in the fall, the vibrant yellow, oranges and reds of the vineyards as the leaves change color. By Dave Ethridge

Beaujolais Nouveau and Thanksgiving
[Nov. 20, 2008] Today’s the day. ‘Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!’ By Dave Ethridge

Exciting new wines from Germany
[Nov. 6, 2008] If you haven’t tasted German wines lately, you are in for a big surprise. By Dave Ethridge

Drinking political wine
[Oct. 23, 2008] The pollsters are busy predicting the outcome of the November Presidential election, but there’s one ‘straw-vote’ poll they seem to have overlooked. By Dave Ethridge

U of M fans drink to Bo
[Oct. 9, 2008] Commemorative and celebrity wine labels have become very popular. They’ve been around for a long time, with the longest running and most popular being that of Marilyn Merlot, which for 20 years has kept the memory of the star Marilyn Monroe in the public eye. By Dave Ethridge

Gold Medal winners show their stuff
[Sep. 25, 2008] A unique opportunity was presented by the Lapeer Tasters Guild last week when they offered a blind tasting of several of the leading wine varieties with the job being to find the Gold Medal winners in each group. By Dave Ethridge

This ‘petite’ is really big
[Sep. 11, 2008] The mid 1800s were a turbulent time in France. The aftermath of the Revolution was still with them, the Napoleonic Wars had devastated the countryside, and a strange little bug had infected the roots of the grapes that the country had relied on to make their famous wines, and the vines were dying. By Dave Ethridge