White Wine

What to Drink with Your Pizza: Pitfire Pizza's Wine Program

Drop into one of L.A.'s seven Pitfire Artisan Pizzas and the casual approach to dining is apparent. Order at a counter, find a table (either inside or out) and wait to dig into freshly prepared and flavorful wood-fired cooked pizzas, salads, soups, paninis and pastas. What's not so apparent is the r ... More >>

A Really Tough Job: Judging L.A.'s International Wine Competition

Would you call this heaven or hell for a wine lover? Getting forty-three Cabernets to taste but not drink, 27 Viogniers to sample and spit out -- and so on, through some 3,200 entries in this year's Los Angeles International Wine Competition. More than 70 judges willing to take on the challenge ga ... More >>

Three Bottles, One Shop: Rosso Wine Shop in Glendale

Three Bottles, One Shop is a new series in which we take a peek into an L.A. wine shop and ask the owner to pick and describe three great bottles on offer. Have a shop you'd like to see featured? Email brodell@laweekly.com. Rosso Wine Shop sits on a quiet strip of retail stores near the corner of V ... More >>

Three Bottles, One Shop: Bar and Garden in Culver City

Three Bottles, One Shop is a new series in which we take a peek into an L.A. wine shop and ask the owner to pick and describe three great bottles on offer. Have a shop you'd like to see featured? Email brodell@laweekly.com. "We've always cared about what we eat," says Bar & Garden owner Lauren Joh ... More >>

Weird World of Wine: A News Round-Up

Slate: The William Koch lawsuit over counterfeit wine sparks a look at how a $10,000 bottle of wine is a show of "prestige, rarity and age" and not necessarily of quality. NPR: New Jersey winemakers are seeking to formalize a geographical label of sorts -- Outer Coastal Plain -- to circumvent stere ... More >>

Q & A With Lou Amdur: Glazed Hams, Slutty Chardonnays What to Drink at Easter

See also: L.A.'s Wine Bars Are Better Than Ever. Here Are Our Seven Favorites Lou Amdur, may have sold his cozy, Laundromat-and-Thai massage parlor adjacent Hollywood strip mall wine bar, LOU, last March. But he still has that gift for being able to effortlessly hold forth on all things wine and fo ... More >>

Making Wine on Catalina Island: The Rusack Family's Santa Catalina Island Vineyards

Wine as an expression of a specific locale or terroir is what countless skilled winemakers strive to achieve. A noble goal to be sure, but one winery has taken the task a step further, specifically 22 miles further, offshore on Santa Catalina Island. Buffeted by salty ocean air, the island makes for ... More >>

5 Crisp White Wines for your Spring Table

I don't know about you, but this is the week that spring fever has officially kicked in, for me. The sun feels higher in the sky, the backyard patio beckons, the fruit trees are blossoming, and everything feels more redolent and alive. It's time to lock the wine cellar door -- leave the reds to lie ... More >>

Balance: A 2013 Conference, an Achievement in California Wine (and a Calder Mobile)

For the past three years, a small group of California chardonnay and pinot noir producers has gathered for a conference and tasting called In Pursuit of Balance. In past years it's been staged in San Francisco and New York; in 2013, for the first time, they brought their wines and their message to L ... More >>

Brandi Glanville's Book Drinking & Tweeting: 8 Incredible Revelations

Is there a Pulitzer category for memoirs by jilted reality stars who like to talk smack about ex-husbands and "bonus moms?" Because if so, this book should win it. And we're not joking for one second. Drinking & Tweeting and Other Brandi Blunders by Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glan ... More >>

5 Reasons to Drive to Santa Barbara for Film Feast

This week, movie folk -- both celebrities and cinephiles -- will flock 95 miles north to the 28th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Running in conjunction with the festival is Film Feast. In its third year, Film Feast is not your ordinary restaurant week. There's a catch: All of th ... More >>

Serious Drinking: Saying Ja to Austrian Wines

The arrival of Beirbeisl in Beverly Hills as a pristine example of Austrian cuisine -- check out Besha Rodell's review, out today -- comes as Austrian wines enter into a kind of renaissance in California, a blossoming of popularity, a flurry of import activity, and the thrilling entry of red wines t ... More >>

Colorado Wine Company: A New Location in Eagle Rock

Six weeks into their new Eagle Rock location, Colorado Wine Company buzzes. A customer asks for a "yummy" Prosecco; another wants a well-priced Chardonnay. Owner Jen Nugent quickly obliges and welcomes a couple who've arrived for the weekly Friday night wine flight tasting. At the same time the Mand ... More >>

Drink This Now: 2011 Dirty and Rowdy Skin and Egg Fermented Semillon

OK, lovers of truly weird wines, have I got a doozy for you. A cloudy, funky, Napa Valley partially skin-fermented 100% Semillon. It was described to me by a woman at a wine store as "a beer drinker's wine." Others have compared it to orange wine. When first opened, it smells intensely of jalapeños ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 11/5- 11/9

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "For many years, American chardonnay has been a wine category that cognoscenti love to hate, a wine whose ubiquity, confected stylings and bloat have more or less condemned it to a reputation for mediocrity, a wading pool of a ... More >>

Chardonnay? Yes, Really: 5 Great Chardonnays for the Holidays

For many years, American chardonnay has been a wine category that cognoscenti love to hate, a wine whose ubiquity, confected stylings and bloat have more or less condemned it to a reputation for mediocrity, a wading pool of a wine, epitomizing the shallow waters of American taste. And for many year ... More >>

Serious Drinking: Harvest 2012, in California Everywhere Else

Next week's Serious Drinking column is devoted to chardonnay, an often maligned but nonetheless wildly popular grape variety in California, the most ubiquitous in the state. Of course the grape originates in France, specifically Burgundy, where it was isolated and called Pineau Chardonnay, probably ... More >>

Reviews of Wines From Famous Rock 'n' Roll Bands!

See also: Top 20 Hair Metal Albums of All Time Lately we've noticed a lot of bands have their own brands of wine, including Motörhead, Kiss, AC/DC, and Ratt. (Even Warrant has a wine. Warrant.) One of our friends at Wine Spectator magazine showed us the piece they wrote in April about this trend, ... More >>

Cornell Seeks Your Help in Naming Two New Wine Varietals

We learned via NPR's Morning Edition this morning that Cornell University's grape breeding program is looking for names for two brand new wine varietals. And they're hoping the public will help. The two varietals are a cold-hearty white-wine grape, which has aromatic qualities similar to Gewürztram ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 7/23 - 7/27

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Of course there's never a reason to eat a doughnut. No amount of self-delusion will allow you to believe that fruit filling is a dose of vitamins for the day. " 10 Best Doughnuts in Los Angeles. "I know, you'd think it wou ... More >>

The Summer of Riesling: Los Angeles Edition

This year marks the fourth annual Summer of Riesling in the U.S., a hostage program established in 2008 by "Acid Overlord" Paul Grieco of the restaurant Terroir in New York, in which white wine by-the-glass programs are hijacked by what most sommeliers and wine professional think of as the most thri ... More >>

Natural Wine: An Explanation Where to Find It

What's in a glass of wine? The answer might be surprising. Wine is basically spoiled grape juice. (Whoever first ingested it millennia ago: hat tip.) But these days wine's ingredients can also contain a laundry list of adds in's: sulfur dioxide, egg whites, oak chips, water and numerous chemical ad ... More >>

Rhone Rangers Wine Tasting at Vibiana This Sunday

Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir are the beloved trinity of most wine drinkers. There are many more varietals out there and this Sunday's (June 3) fifth annual Rhone Rangers Tasting at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles showcases wines grown from 22 American Rhone grape varietals. Chief a ... More >>

5 Dog-Friendly Winery Tasting Rooms

A love for wine and dogs can co-exist. People take their pets everywhere these days--dining and drinking out, no exception. Although Los Angeles has approved pets on restaurant patios (per the recent Squid Ink post), rules prohibit them inside. Nor are they welcome at bars or in the tasting rooms at ... More >>

10 California Summer Wine Events

Summer is a wine-drinking marathon in California, and up and down the coast, each weekend brings pleasant opportunities to imbibe outside. The diversity of events reflects the state's varied wine-growing regions. Those on hotel grounds come with a room night package -- a smart way to go. Because i ... More >>

10 Last Minute Mother's Day Gift Ideas: A Mom Beverage Pairing

Mother's Day is on Sunday. Yes, this Sunday. No need to get into a Google-ing gift search frenzy, as we have already compiled a handy last-minute Mother's Day gift list. Only here, you won't find the typical clichés like roses or chocolate, but gifts mom can drink. Heaven knows she deserves a stron ... More >>

Wine Cellar: Master Sommelier Richard Betts on "Feral" Chardonnay

We've long been keen on winemaker Greg La Follette's Pinot Noir style, his bagpipe back story and the Friday night Bingo shirts he sports at wine tasting events. He's also weathered the wine business long enough that he doesn't worry about telling the whole wine truth, and nothing but the truth (so ... More >>

Amelia Ceja of Ceja Vineyards on Wine With Mexican Food

You've picked out a good Cabernet. What should you serve with it? Beans -- Mexican beans. That's what Amelia Morán Ceja would do. Ceja is the first Mexican-American woman to head a wine production company, Ceja Vineyards. "People never thought to pair wine with Mexican food until we came along," s ... More >>

Q & A With Lou Amdur: On Selling His Wine Bar, Software Insomnia Drunks in the Parking Lot

When Squid Ink was born back in 2009, Lou Amdur, the owner of the wine bar, LOU was one of the first experts we turned to. No matter the question -- be it of terroir, or amphorae or why wine geeks use puzzling descriptors -- he never made us feel dumb for asking it. His answers took us near (Wine Ex ... More >>

A New (Year) Of Wine Books: Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest... For Bargain Wines

Aspirin, caffeine, blowfish. What really cures a 2012 hangover (Happy, happy by the way)? We're going with cheap -- but good -- wine. Sure, 'tis this time of year for New Year's resolution cliches. But as wine journalist Natalie MacLean is well aware, the key is finding those bargain wines that ac ... More >>

The Chef vs. The Sommelier: Fig Restaurant's Pinot Chardonnay Face-Off

flickr user cherylknauerPinot or Chardonnay?​When we popped by Fig in Santa Monica recently for a Happy Hour glass of wine, sommelier Matthew Lehman was happy to chat about the new Fig Pinot Noir we spied on the menu -- Lehman helped make it under the watchful eye of La Fenetre winemaker Josh ... More >>

The Chardonnay Symposium: Wine, Santa Maria BBQ Chardonnay Clones (Yes, Clones)

Bob DickeyChardonnay Symposium's Grand Tasting Byron Vineyard​America's favorite wine is getting the star treatment. This weekend, July 22-23, the second Chardonnay Symposium in the scenic Santa Maria Valley puts the spotlight on all aspects of the wine varietal: where it comes from (clones!), ... More >>

Summer Wine Deals: Five Picnic Friendly Wines

Flickr/lovelornpoets​The word "bargain" is always consumer relative, but perhaps rarely more so when the subject is wine. Even without getting price involved merely the word "Chardonnay" can start a (polite, of course) wine bar fight. And we've all learned the hard way that at the lower end of ... More >>

Recipes for Tartines: Open-Faced Sandwiches Wine Pairings

Susan Parktartines and salad​ It's hot. So hot, that we can't bare to turn on the oven and we're more in the mood for shopping than cooking. We went to the Hollywood Farmers Market on Sunday to buy Japanese Momotaro tomatoes from Yasutomi farms and salad greens from Living Lettuce Farms for a ... More >>

Wine Report: Flip-Flops For Summer Sips?

JgarbeeMatching Placemat Optional​It's summer. So yeah, call us beach party poopers, but the very name association of flip-flops and wine makes us nervous. We're having visions of FlipFlop Wine advertising campaigns featuring Chardonnay bottles half-buried in the sand and sporting the latest i ... More >>

Top 10 Hollywood Bowl Picnic Essentials

JgarbeeLaker Bakers, Homemade Baguettes Russian River Chardonnay ​Last weekend's JazzFest marked the unofficial launch of the Hollywood Bowl summer season (it officially begins this Friday). Along with that much-needed dose of Dianne Reeves comes a reminder that it is once again time to poli ... More >>

Champagne and Oysters? Not in this Competition

B. Hansenthe Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition​ What kind of a wine contest requires judges not to pay too much attention to what they are tasting? It was the 17th annual Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition, where wines were rated only for how they played up the briny, creamy, succule ... More >>

Wine Deals: New "Climber" Pouch Wine From The Clif Bar Folks (Get It?)

JGarbeePairs Well With Those Who Don't Fear Heights​No sooner do we mention the debut of the AstraPouch in California, and a Napa winery releases their wines in the giant CapriSun-like pouches that holds 1.5 L (two bottles) of wine. It's a pretty great idea, and not because it has a one-way va ... More >>

Indulge Wines Debuts The AstraPouch In California

JGarbeeJust Add Pie​Wine in a bottle, wine in a box, wine inside a bag inside a box. Just when you think the bagged wine market is over saturated, the AstraPouch makes its U.S. debut. New York's Glenora Wine Cellars was the first American wine producer to pouch its Riesling and Chardonnay last ... More >>

David Haskell's Magnum Wine Pairings: Or, Adventures in Apricots, Uni & Potato Chips

emdot/Flickr​ Los Angeles sommelier David Haskell (Le Cirque, Bin 8945) -- whose Magnum event with chef Joseph Mahon at Royal/T on April 17th through April 19th will benefit the Japanese sake industry devastated by March's earthquake and tsunami -- usually likes to tell a story when he does a ... More >>

Clos du Chateau: or, The Continuing Joy of Chardonnay

Felicia Friesema​While white wine drinkers have certainly broadened their horizons over the years, they would be remiss to turn their collective backs on the one that started it all: Chardonnay. Though it has been used in questionable ways, when grown on the golden slopes of Burgundy, Chardonn ... More >>

Q & A With Lou Amdur (Part 2): Lambruscos, Blanc de Blanc Champagne and The Effervescent Cure-All Known As Alka-Seltzer

Anne FishbeinLou Amdur, of LOU: A Wine Bar​In part one of our conversation with Lou Amdur, owner of Lou: A Wine Bar, we asked him for suggestions about what to drink on New Year's Eve, and he sang the praises of yeasty proseccos and fizzy red lambruscos (especially the ones made by third gener ... More >>

Thanksgiving Wine Pairings: You Could Ask Your Sommelier, Or Go Straight To The Source

Flickr user nevadadanThanksgiving With A Vineyard View​We spend a lot of time figuring out what to serve for Thanksgiving dinner, but how about what to serve with all of those competing homemade flavors? Asking sommeliers their pairing opinion is laudable, but can be like querying star chefs f ... More >>

New Spirit: Napa Valley Vodka, Wine Glass Not Included

J. GarbeeNapa Valley Vodka: Perfect For That Next Open Casket Funeral​Last we spoke with Arthur Hartunian, the owner of the one-man Napa Valley Distillery, he was telling us about his mid-life limoncello making crisis and soon to launch Sauvignon Blanc vodka. He also mentioned (several times) ... More >>

Port Cooking Lesson With The Pragers: What To Do With That Boxed Cake Mix, A Port Glazed Ham Recipe Port Tasting In L.A. Tomorrow

flickr user bakingobsessionsWhite Port Boxed Cake Mix = Port Pound Cake ​There's that window somewhere between early November and mid-February when it feels perfectly acceptable, maybe even wise, to pour yourself an after-dinner drink. Say, Port, or one of its American cousins like the Port- ... More >>

Top 10 Wine And Band Pairings: Or, How About Some Air Supply With That $2 Chuck?

Flickr user 1808wineThe Vintage Cadillac Essentials​Heavy metal drinking is really the only excuse for naming a wine Sledgehammer. Either that, or you're a mega-millions corporate exec type trying to hook us on cheap inexpensive wine (see #2 when you turn the page). And so begets a Top Ten lis ... More >>

LudoWines

What to drink on the fly with the Lefebvres

Ask Mr. Gold

Drinking in the Great Outdoors

Summer wines that will slap your tongue into submission

Miceli’s