By David and Christian Asam
Christian: When shopping for wine, I always try to buy from a locally owned wine shop. We are lucky to have a few stores in Jefferson County with a nice selection on their shelves. Allow me to send a special congratulations to Grapes & Grains on their new location and expanded [...]

BY Christian and David Asam
 
David: Have you ever asked yourself, why are they pouring that wine into a pitcher, or why is that arrogant snob swirling the wine in his glass so vigorously? Well, there actually is a good reason. They are aerating the wine. The obvious next question is, why would you want to [...]

Christian: Every December a great group of our friends gets together for our annual holiday wine tasting. A theme is chosen months in advance, and each person is required to bring a bottle matching that theme. This year the powers that be selected Italy’s Barolo. We booked the upstairs room at Stone Soup, tasted wine, [...]

by Christian Asam and David Asam
David: As this is the December issue, we have decided to share our opinions on our favorite wines to go with a Traditional Turkey Dinner. No surprise that Christian’s favorites come from the New World, while I have stuck with the timehonored pairings of the Old World.
Christian: Mmmmm … Turkey, [...]

By Christian and David Asam
David: A local charity recently auctioned off a dinner with the Grape Debate brothers, which Christian and I thoroughly enjoyed. The stage was set in the Bavarian Inn’s Rathskellar, where four people joined us for an evening of great food, conversation, laughter, and, of course wonderful wines.
Christian:  The design was a [...]

By Christian & David Asam
Christian: I recall a night early in my freshman year of college before I had found wine, beer pong, or kegs, before I had been invited to my first of many frat parties. My roommate and I were bored, lying in two single beds in our tiny dorm room unable to [...]

By Christian & David Asam
David: Continuing last month’s column—Anything But Chardonnay—we thought we would give our thoughts on some more obscure red varietals. Because cabernet sauvignon is probably the king of red grapes, it’s much harder to bash than its white counterpart, chardonnay. Still, we hope to entice you into trying a few lesser-known reds.
Christian: [...]

David: Chardonnay may be the biggest selling and most popular white grape in the world. And there are certainly some outstanding chardonnay based wines that command very high prices. However, chardonnay has slowly become a household name that most often refers to an establishment’s house white wine.

Christian: I, too, have tasted and loved chardonnays. Actually, I am lying. I usually hate chardonnay. I just can’t get over all the oak treatment. The aromas of most of them remind me of hard labor in a lumber yard. So, I am happy to share some ABC’s and more good news: the wines I’ll recommend are usually cheaper than Chardonnay as well!

D: To begin, let’s try viognier, pronounced (VEE Own YEAH). This grape produces wines with a very similar body and consistency to chardonnay, yet has a much fresher taste that often is described as floral tropical fruits. It’s indigenous to the Rhone Valley of France, but California and South America are making gorgeous wines with viognier. Try one with fresh seafood, especially crab meat. [...]