We recently brought a slew of new Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays into the shop and the path a few of them took to get here is pretty interesting. I’d like to use this week’s post to introduce them to you and tell you about their journeys to our shelves.     …

Each bottle of Champagne is adorned, in small print, with a producer’s number preceded by two letters which classify the producer within the framework of the larger Champagne community. These letters basically identify how the producer sources fruit and how they brand it. The most common initials to find on…

We had some great feedback at the shop about our last blog post as people sounded their appreciation for a little extra focus on bubbles. In my never-ending quest to find topics to write about, I thought we’d continue with the theme again this week and see where it leads…

A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships…   Popular culture’s interest in wine is hitting a fever pitch. Proof of this will be seen in Wayzata this weekend as dozens (if not hundreds!) of people sit for their Introductory and Certified Sommelier Exams through Court of Master Sommeliers. At these exams,…

We’re taking a week off from the blog this week to concentrate on some of the incredible Fall selections we’ll be bringing you. We’ll be back next week with another Wine Musings Post.   Cheers, D. Hultgren

  We’ve all been on one side or the other of a “sorry, I thought you were someone else” moment. Maybe you’re mistaken for someone who has similar gait, hairstyle or whatever, and for a moment, to the other person, you are someone completely different. For me, I always get…

Food and Wine Pairing    Imagine you just cooked yourself a perfectly bland dish of gray goop, totally neutral. The flavor places it somewhere between rice and cardboard and it’s texture straddles the divide between bread and soggy breakfast cereal. It is neither spicy nor sweet and can be eaten…

The Basics of Food and Wine Pairing   Food and wine pairing is not rocket science or at least to my knowledge it isn’t. I hope there aren’t any sommeliers out there building rockets as mixing alcohol and rocket fuel probably isn’t the best idea. While picking the best wine…

  Chateau le Puy, Patrick et Christophe Bonnefond, Marc Hebrart, Domaine Henri Jouan   While sticking with the Bastille Day theme for this week’s newsletter and selecting wines for the blog, it was difficult not to contemplate what has happened in the French wine industry over the nearly 230 years…

Mercat, Dr. Loosen, Vaughn Duffy, Chateau de Beaucastel, Remo Farina   This week’s blog post is all about value. It’s about finding beautiful wines that are representative of their origins at great price points.   Mercat Brut Rose – $17.99 I am always looking for high-quality bubbles at an approachable…