Farmstead Cheeses and Wines: Jeff’s Blog

We left Beaune early in the morning, and it was the coldest it had been on the trip so far. The digital readout in the bus read minus 6 Celsius – about 25 Fahrenheit! I had hoped to be able to see some of the great vineyards of the Cotes de Nuits, but it wasn’t [...]

Costieres de nimes Our hotel in Nimes, the Hotel Imperador Concorde, is a grande dame – over 100 years old, located near the old quarter of the bustling market town. She’s seen better days to be sure, but in her glory days saw royalty and celebrities grace her halls. Hemmingway loved the place and stayed [...]

In June, I traveled to Galicia as part of a wine trip hosted by Olé Imports. We spent an afternoon on the Sil River, looking out and up at the incredibly steep vineyards, originally terraced by Roman slaves! In many spots, the vineyards are only accessible by boat, and the terrain is so steep, that [...]

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I hope everyone survived Tax Season without too many scars, and that you’ll be enjoying the great weather that’ll be on hand this weekend. We’ve brought in some warm weather wines (Rosé’ll do the trick for the warm weather, and a grilled cheese sammich will balm your tax wounds, so come on down….) We’re coming [...]

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet! I was invited to have dinner with another of my wine heroes the other day – Jorgé Ordoñez – arguably one of the wine world’s movers and shakers, at one of my favorite restaurants on the planet – Piperade, Gerald Hirigoyen’s amazing Basque-inspired eatery in [...]

I’ve been thinking a lot about community and localism and the new economy lately. I’m sure that you’ve noticed more and more empty storefronts in Montclair Village and on Park St. Every day, the news media pounds the drums of economic gloom and doom, and customers like you ask me “Are you doing okay?,” with [...]