Author: Terry Connor

Washington State is home to 700-plus wineries. Fewer than 20 of them are high volume producers. The best example is, of course, Chateau Ste Michelle. Others include Hogue, Columbia Crest, Barnard Griffin, and Waterbrook. These wineries have nationwide distribution with good representation in the Lowcountry. (My personal favorite is Waterbrook.) The remaining wineries have production that is low volume, and unless we go to Washington State, we are unaware of their existence.

Two similarities between Christmas dinner and Thanksgiving dinner are abundantly clear. The majority of us will feast on Turkey or Roast Beef, and there will always be a debate on what wine to serve with dinner. The debate resurrects itself every year simply because we want to get it right. And why not? The holidays are a big deal into which we invest a lot of time and energy. So allow me to get my two cents worth of advice in and see if I can help you come out on top of the debate.

The wine you see here is called a Tannat and discovering it was like finding buried treasure. In all my years of studying wine I’d completely missed out on it. But I have an excuse – the grapes come from Uruguay and France. There was a stimulus to plant Tannat in The US, and it was successful. So let’s go back and see what happened.

The above title belongs to Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. When they used it, I think they really...

I was, by necessity, on the hunt for a bargain. That is what you do when cash is low. I found...

I am told that summer only lasts 93 days. That is really not enough time to enjoy the many delightful white wines available to us here in the Lowcountry. However, if we pick up the pace, maybe we can enjoy a few extra treats, either as an aperitif or with a nice barbecue before the deadline.

Each year, Wine Spectator magazine publishes two lists. The first list is the top 100 wines of the year, and the second list is the top restaurants, WORLDWIDE, that have earned awards for wine excellence. Both of these lists require massive effort and are judged in accordance to strict guidelines. I would like to concentrate on the Restaurant list and how it pertains to us here in the Lowcountry.

The label pictured here is from the winner in The White Wine Category of the 28th Annual Hilton Head Island Food and Wine Festival. The wine was chosen in a blind tasting by the judges from all the entries in this category. This was indeed an awesome task, as there were several hundred white wine entries and only sixteen hours of judging available to choose the “Best of Show” in this category. What the judges found in this case was a wine produced from 100% Riesling, bright gold in color, a fruity nasal quality, and flavors of lemon and peach.

Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher wrote wine articles for the Wall Street Journal up until just a few years ago. They no longer write about wine and I miss them. John and Dorothy knew how to take the “work” out of their jobs and replace it with fun. Where ever they landed I sincerely hope that all is well.

Two weeks ago I was introduced to Duel at an “open tasting.” (Open tasting means that the labels are visible for all to see and there is no judging.) What really got my attention was the fact that I am familiar with the Darioush Winery where Duel is produced. The wine is not a “second” label from Darioush Winery. It is a product unto itself, and well it should be. I have to admit that this wine got past me and I was unaware that it was in the product line-up. My loss. In any case, I was delighted to have it brought to my attention.