The village of Cahors is the quintessence of the southern French countryside, a place – like its wines – marked by its rustic charm and distance from the whims of the big city. If its residents are hardly descamisados, there’s no doubt Eva Peron would have…

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If you find yourself driving along the main highway in Carneros, be careful about glancing north. Perched on a hilltop about halfway between Sonoma and Napa is the majestic Nicholson Ranch, a sprawling 160-acre estate capped by an alluring farmhouse. The…

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Malbec – once a grape used primarily for blending – became more mainstream a few years ago with more imports, particularly Argentine Malbec. Malbec from the Cahors region of southwest France has a longer track record (see Thirst, Page K8), yet isn’t as widely…

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When Farmstead, a casually rustic restaurant, opened at Long Meadow Ranch Winery in St. Helena earlier this year, the owners decided to take a novel approach to corkage fees, the money restaurants charge diners who bring their own wine. The restaurant is…

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Kermit Lynch, who opened his first wine shop in Albany in 1972, built a business as a specialty importer of French and Italian wines. He built his name – and many say revolutionized the fine wine industry – by traveling the back roads of France and finding…

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When I was a kid, I decided I really did like beets – but only after I tasted them pickled. The intense, sweet-tangy robust flavor puckered my mouth and almost took my breath away. Since then, I’ve eaten beets in borscht, grated raw or thinly sliced carpaccio-…

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One of Northern California’s oldest wine regions can’t compete with Napa and Sonoma in terms of the big tasting theater. The charm of Livermore remains the intimate tasting experience, and that is what is to be found most any weekend at Big White House…

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Ripe, nuanced and ready to drink, white Rhones should be an even easier sell than straight-up reds like Cotes-du-Rhone. And yet the hunt to find enough to recommend was one of the more challenging of the past few months. Like their California counterparts,…

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With relatively unfamiliar wines such as Txakoli and Mencia filling wine store shelves, it’s good to have a little guidance before you buy. That’s what Master Sommelier and wine educator Evan Goldstein offers in his second book, “Daring Pairings” (University…

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