Colorado Vine.http://www.coloradovine.com I'm thinking of a summer I spent in Germany and of my proud hostess who, daily, served up “special-ordered wines” (she said) to help underscore the welcoming nature of her country - wines bought just for me, several of them, most of them pricey and all of them meant to impress. By Cathie Beck--the Wine Wench http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=79 know zilch about Zinfandel wines and even less about race car driving - though I've drank god only knows how much wine in my lifetime - and grew up within spittin' distance of the Indy 500 (and have Polaroids of A. By Cathie Beck - the Wine Wench http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=78 I am ashamed of this incident, though it is an event nearly two decades past. A girlfriend and I stepped off the San Diego light rail early one morning and walked into Tijuana, Mexico. After six hours of sightseeing no-prescription-needed drugstores stocked with über-cheap Prozac and Valium, we headed back to the U. By Cathie Beck - the Wine Wench http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=77 There's a lot to be said for things that are “in between,” that is, somewhere in the midst, not on the fringe and not excessively anchored at either end of any pendulum- and most things don't fall into this balanced place. By Cathie Beck - the Wine Wench http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=72 Two decades ago, a group of Napa Valley vintners got a little pissed (which Napa Valley vintners are prone to do) when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives decreed that any wine produced must contain at least 75 percent of a specific grape to be labeled as that varietal. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=71 I feel about Chardonnays the same way I feel about rosés - it's like I'm drinking a “practice wine” - unlike the experience of a Barolo or a Bordeaux or a kick-ass cab. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=70 Leave it to a man to plant a public relations spin to his own carnal carryings-on. The Marquis de la Nerthe, an 1800s proprietor of some of France's world-class Châteauneuf du Pape's vineyards, very cleverly did just that. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=69 I love every single thing about Argentina, though the furthest south I've ever been in my life has been Grand Isle, Louisiana- a desolate, fishy smelling strip of gray sand that spawns mosquitoes as big as my head- a locale that, I'm absolutely sure, bears not a lick of resemblance to anything Argentinean. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=68 What's curvy, sleek, expensive and makes you feel warm all over? Thas' right- it's the sexy, hot holder of wine- the object d'art made to “open up” wines so that each and every complex aspect of our favorite vin separates and collides and creates the cacophony of pleasure found only in wine. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=67 So I have a very focused and honorable goal set for this New Year's Eve (and it's not to get kissed at midnight by Denzel Washington, though that, too, is an admirable and most understandable pursuit): The target I've zoned in on is to sip- and to enjoy- a beautiful, chilled and fluted glass of delicious, ebullient, done-right (more on this below) champagne. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=66 I've enjoyed many the holiday meal wherein no one really gave a rat's patooty about what wine went with what. (I've also partaken of many the holiday din-din where no one really cared much about the meal itself- but that's another column entirely. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=65 The important thing to know about Barolo wines- considered by many to be the true “wine of kings and king of wines”- is that there's a long-standing war going on around them. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=58 No one grieved longer or harder than I when we all said goodbye- forever!- to “The Sopranos” earlier this year. It was like watching the results of the last presidential election, another (seemingly unrelated) event that also elicited all five stages of grief: denial, anger (more denial, more anger. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=57 So I'm into the <em>13th hour</em> of a 17-hour transatlantic flight, and I've exhausted every possible read I can get my hands on, including (a) the heavy-ass library book I've carried around for the last 12 days; (b) the English version of the <em>International World Herald</em>; and (c) the directions on the sick bag. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=56 You've done it dozens of times: stopped at the local wine shop or liquor store and headed to the syrah or the cabernet or the chardonnay section. You don't know what it is, exactly, that you're after except that you want a red, not too heavy, to go with tonight's lasagna and you don't want it to cost more than an Andrew Jackson. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=55 I know about excellent, inner-city Paris “bodega” wines because of Jean-Marie (Jahn Mah-REE)- a tall, silver-haired Parisian, an ex-Naval officer who took too long to pick me up near the Arc de Triumph. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=50 I guess I think I'm all that and a bag o' potato chips when it comes to putting up with rosés. I've never ordered a glass (let alone a full bottle) of rosé in a restaurant; I never even think about it. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=49 Some say that it's too darn hot to drink red wine, unless it's sangria. And what a great idea. A friend of mine created a concoction she's labeled "Trailer Trash Sangria"- one part red wine, one part diet 7-Up. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=48 It's true that an upcoming trip to Spain has me salivating over the possibilities of visiting a country that hosts dozens of glorious wine producing regions. But self-interest motivations aside, let's face it; Spain is a treasure chest for the beloved red wines produced across its sunny climate. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=47 So you finally get a night out at a good, Front-Range area restaurant. Nothing but the swash of a deep-purple, velvet sky and gentle breeze backdrop a spectacular summer evening. The linen-covered tabletop rests like cool marble beneath your fingertips, as you and your dining companion open the menu and breathe deeply. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=40 A certain New York senator may indeed be the first presidential candidate since Geraldine Ferraro and our present-day U.S. Secretary of State may also be of the female persuasion (and a minority to boot)- but Colorado also boasts powerful female representation- at least, within the often competitive, usually fickle, and many would say undoubtedly chaotic world of wine. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=39 Leave it to the Catholics. It may not be surprising to learn that the Catholic Church is one of the original custodians of the pinot noir- one of the oldest vine grape varieties known. Named after the noble pinot family, the pinot noir grape is said to have been cultivated in Burgundy first century AD. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=38 Perhaps the only thing better than curling up with a deep, delicious glass of your favorite wine is to combine it with a good book on wine, “good” being the operative word here. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=37 Wine enthusiasts are victims of a muddy battle over the wine industry's increasing practice of eliminating cork to seal wine bottles- and wine devotees' loathing of the trend to top a wine bottle with almost anything but cork. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=36 Why is the cabernet sauvignon so lusted after, so sought, so considered to be, by many, the “best in show” in the world of wine? The cabernet sauvignon is, few can deny, the sexiest of wines. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=35 Imagine a lovely spring evening, out in your back yard or on your deck, with eight of your closest friends. A master wine expert- or even a sommelier arrives- loaded with beautiful and mysterious wines from all over the world. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=34 The California wine industry can be daunting. A March 2006 California Wine Institute report says that $875 million worth of wine was exported from California in 2006. That's over 100 million gallons of wine that come from the state- an increase of over 30 percent from 2005. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=33 Welcome wine drinkers, wine snobs, sommeliers and wander lusting whiners- uh, winers- in general. This is ColoradoVine magazine's (and KUVO radio station's) inaugural Wine Wench column, a twice-monthly, must-go-to source for everything wine: wine events, winery openings and closings, new wines, places to taste and sup and otherwise sample the very best wines in the state. By Cathie Beck http://www.coloradovine.com/articles.asp?id=28