joel mack

Conversation about Sicilian wines so often leans toward the island’s well regarded white wines. Sicily’s white wines can indeed be wonderful. But, the island is also home to native red grape variety Nero d’Avola, which can turn heads, too, and …

Wines from the hills around Pisa made it solidly onto my radar in 2015 after a luncheon in New York with wine producers Matteo Cantoni and Luca Tommasini. Their wines left an impression. Here’s what I wrote in a follow …

Resting a splitting axe against my hip, I loosen the cowhide gloves. Two and one half cords of wood are split and stacked. The cool air and exercise have me feeling for a refreshing red. Inside, there is polenta cooking. …

A millennial fellow speaking about his interest in wine: Him: “I’ll drink anything, man, but I’m all about the reds.” Me: “Cool. What do you look for in a red wine?” Him: “Massiveness. Total big-ness.” I smile politely, knowing it will be …

There are three things that I find most Italians are happy to talk about: food, wine, and sports! Not unlike wine, the sport of cycling has a great heritage in Italy, with its own larger than life heroes such as …

It’s been often said that it takes a village to raise a child. One could assert the same about an education in wine and food … getting one takes a village of supportive folks. In his new book The Wines …

Ubiquitous dousing of the stuff upon chicken wings, unrestrained squirtings over international food plates, smothering squeezes atop gourmet burgers.   That’s how it began, just like that.   And then, one day, irresistible and delicious, Sriracha addiction had claimed another. …

I enjoy and appreciate Barolo and Barbaresco, the oft-referred to King and Queen of Italian wines, just as much as the next guy. Nebbiolo, the native Italian grape variety used to make Barolo and Barbaresco, is no doubt one of …

In Kai Yuan Road, nearby to where the old ferry leaves from Xiamen to Gulangyu Island, You Sheng, a man perpetually dressed head to toe in white, serves me a bowl of spicy sha cha noodle soup with fish balls …

One of the first things about Italian wine which I recall committing to memory is the quartet of grape varieties which could comprise the classic core blends for Valpolicella and Amarone wines, those being Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara. But, …