I’m guessing that your friends/relatives/loved ones didn’t follow my previous advice on what to get you for the holidays, so in this video I offer up two excellent wine gadgets to buy with the money you get from returning whatever crappy, single-purpose, never-gonna-use-‘em wine gizmos you received. You’re welcome ;-).

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Torkscrew Corkscrew
• Vacu Vin Rapid Ice Wine Chiller
• Fight Club (because it’s totally friggin’ awesome)

Cheers!

In this episode of 1WineDude TV, I attempt to simplify one of the greatest of cool-weather beverages, Port – and I try to tell you most of what you will ever need to know about Port in under five minutes.  I fail, primarily because I go way over five minutes, but along the way I reveal a simple fact about Port that just might blow your mind, and taste a great (and relatively inexpensive!) introduction to the Ruby Port style.  Enjoy!

Tasted in this episode:

Cockburn’s Special Reserve Port (Porto)
Price: $18
Rating: B

Apparently this long-standing Reserve Ruby Port (Cockburn’s invented the Reserve category in the late 1960s) from this long-standing producer (they’ve been in the Port biz for about 200 years) was revamped recently when Symington Family Estates gobbled up Cockburn’s last year – the grapes are primarily from the Quinta do Canais vineyard in the upper Douro, and the style has been tweaked along with the packaging.  The result is a higher-quality Reserve Port that’s quite true to its Ruby colors: semi-dried fruits like fig and date can be found, along with dark cherries, plums and the “signature” peppery spice that marks a good Ruby. Chocolate notes send the whole thing down the hatch in a fairly well-balanced, elegant, and downright genteel package. A solid buy for cooler evening, post-dinner, fireside-chat action.

Cheers!

Ever wonder how some of your favorite grapes make it from vine to winery? Here’s a little ditty from my recent jaunt to Paso Robles that show’s you just that. 

First, my Paso journalist traveling companions and I get a lesson in picking Grenache at the picturesque Viking Vineyard property courtesy of Adelaida’s surfer-turned-winemaker Terry Culton, and then Cass Winery owner Steve Cass unleashes the forklift to show us how Cass’ Malbec grapes are de-stemmed.

So don your galoshes and get ready to swat at copious amounts of bees, ‘cause there’s grapes to get processed in Paso, people!

Cheers!

In this episode, I take a break from my busy schedule of eating, napping and playing Infinity Blade during my Tuscany vacation to field test a sample of the VinniBag, a unique inflatable travel bag meant to protect wine bottle from damage and temperature fluctuations.

How did my Tuscan Vin Santo fare in the VinniBag after being left out in the car in Chianti and Volterra, getting dragged in my luggage through the bumpy streets of Siena, and then subjected to multiple British Airways flights and the formidable Terminal 5 in London Heathrow airport? Watch the vid to find out!

Apologies in advance for the low volume during the first part of the vid (screw it, I was on vacation!) and for the jumpiness in the second stanza (the 100+ lb dog was trying to play a bit too friskily with the camerawoman at the time…).

Cheers!