by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
There are rules as to the locations for growing wine grapes that are most specific. Growers must take into consideration temperature, both day and night, air moisture, wind, soil, and insects. In the Bordeaux region of Southeastern France it has been found over...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
We are all aware of the huge 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile a few weeks ago and the devastation that it wrought. This monster quake not only effected every facet of Chilean life, but it also took a devastating toll on one of Chile’s most important exports,...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Have you ever heard the name Samuel Bronfman? He was a Canadian who, in 1924, started a little company in Montreal called Distillers Corporation. With prohibition only five years old in the United States, the call for alcohol from Canada was insatiable. Since there...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
The latest wine releases from Pepperwood Grove, are now on dealer’s shelves and in restaurants. Pepperwood Grove wines, all of them, are, in our opinion, among the best buys in the wine marketplace today. They represent a well made, full flavored series of wines,...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
This is going to be something unusual for us; a mean spirited column. To begin with, let us set the ground rules. We are wine writers not wine critics. We write about wine in all of its facets and often give our opinions based on over thirty years of experience. These...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Humility is a trait that is frequently overlooked and must occasionally be relearned. We have recently had such an incident and were taught a valuable lesson about prejudging anything When we were first introduced to the wines of Ecco Domani, we believed, based on our...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
We hereby formally resign from the ABC Club. After years of faithful membership we remove ourselves from this organization, better know as the Anything But Chardonnay Club. For many years we forced ourselves to sample a host of inferior and inadequate chardonnay wines...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
El Jimador is among Mexico’s top producers of tequila. Their Tequila Blanco is one of the favorite ingredients in what has become America’s most asked for mixed drink, the Margarita. The Margarita came into existence in the 1930’s and remained a Mexican secret...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Van Gogh; we all know it is the name of a great Dutch painter but did you know that there is a vodka that carries the same name? But why did the producers adopt the name Van Gogh? The distillers said that they picked this name because “Van Gogh was the name of a...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Ending a good dinner with an after dinner drink rather than a sweet desert has become the “in†thing to do. After dinner drinks are sweet and satisfying while saving you the intake of a whole bunch of calories and forcing the letting out of a belt a few notches...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Beaulieu Vineyards has been making wine in California for over one hundred years. The winery was originally established as a producer of better wines and has continued to do just that ever since its inception. For over thirty years, beginning in 1938, Beaulieu had the...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
As the weather warms, wine drinkers thoughts turn toward the lighter white wines which we affectionately call, “the blonds of summer.†There are many varieties of white wines and many more producers, but what is of premier importance are the varieties. Like food,...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
There is little question that Elvis Presley was one of the past century’s greatest entertainers. Even 33 years after his passing, his popularity has not diminished. His music is still so popular that there are radio stations that play his music 24 hours a day, seven...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
We don’t know how the South Africans can produce such fine wines and sell them at such low prices, but they do and the wines of Sebeka are a good example of fine wines at fine prices. The Sebeka comes from the name of a pet cheetah owned by the famed South African...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Things are getting bigger in the wine industry; no, not the companies, the containers. Lately we are seeing more 1.5 and 3 liter containers on the store shelves. The standard glass bottle for wine is 750 Ml (4/5 quart) or the economy sized 1.5 liter magnum bottle...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
What is left after one has attained fame and fortune? What else but to have your name and/or picture put on a wine bottle, and that is just what happened with several of the well known and famous. A name on a wine bottle is much more that a publicity stunt or a way to...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
           All too often, unfamiliarity with a particular wine variety leaves the consumer unaware of what is available in the marketplace and possibly missing a great treat. There are many different varieties of wine in the marketplace and there may be an...
by Ben Bodenstein | Wine Comedy
We realize how difficult it must be to find a quality restaurant without having any direct recommendations to assist you. To aid those who would rather let their fingers do the walking, we propose the following system to insure you an evening of fine dining. Call and...
by Ben Bodenstein | Canadian Wines, Wine Stories
This week we shall adopt a phrase from the Federal Government; we present a column based on “need to know.†We would like to acquaint our readers with a new entrant into the exclusive club of fine winemaking nations; Canada. That’s right Canada, our frigid...
by Ben Bodenstein | California Wines
We are all familiar with the popular wine varieties; chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc. There are others that are becoming more familiar such as zinfandel, riesling and gewürztraminer. We move around these varieties, picking up nuances here...
by Ben Bodenstein | Wine Stories
This week we have decided to take a look at wine myths, wine stories, wine legends and wine fallacies. The first wine fallacy that we will explore is the old raspberry that red wine must be served at room temperature. To begin with, most of the wine rules were...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
This is going to be something unusual for us; a mean spirited column. To begin with, let us set the ground rules. We are wine writers not wine critics. We write about wine in all of its facets and often give our opinions based on over thirty years of experience. These...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Scammers, scoundrels, scallywags and cheats, the wine industry, like almost every facet of modern business, also has people looking to make a “fast buck†by whatever means possible. Fortunately for us, the consumer, there are government agencies set up in every...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Wine collectors, serious wine lovers and oenophiles in general, this column is for you. The French, who in the area of rating their latest vintages, are usually, to use the vernacular “full of it.†They have, in their infinite wisdom, declared that the 2009...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
        As a nation, we have allotted February as the month that we remember and honor all of our past presidents. Since our field of interest is wine and spirits we decided to take a look at our presidents and some of the founders of our country and their...
High Vacuum Engineer: Senior Technical Adviser and Feature Writer for Modern Photography Magazine (1967-1973), co-founder of Together Vineyards, an experimental vineyard in South Florida which was the southern most registered vineyard in the Continental United States. Co-Author of several books on Home Wine Making, Home Beer Making and Distillation of Spirits. Co-owner of Camera & Video Repair Institute in Sunrise Florida.