Month: January 2020

Wine Talk: Meet La Toque’s Richard Matuszczak

One of the many great things about living in Los Angeles is that I am now much closer to Napa and Sonoma — not to mention Santa Barbara — and the wines and wineries there.

And the food. There are some outstanding restaurants in the Napa Valley, and the latest Wine Talk’s subject oversees the wine program at one of them, La Toque. Angela and I dined there on our honeymoon back in October, and we will most definitely return for another meal.

The milk-fed veal chop at La Toque (Megan Menicucci photo)

Richard Matuszczak poured some excellent wines for us during our evening at La Toque, including a Seavey Caravina. His selections paired beautifully with our courses, which included pork belly, shrimp, and mushrooms.

Matuszczak’s Wine Talk includes his take on Caravina, and some other great bottles, so give it a read, and make a reservation at La Toque.

Want more Wine Talk: From Paris to Houston and many other places, the goodness flows
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life

Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

A Year of Wines, Ending With an Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

The year past (2019) held many high notes regarding wine, including the opportunity — made possible by a generous friend — to taste a 1964 Private Reserve Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour. Capped by a wedding in Texas Hill Country, a honeymoon in Napa and Sonoma, and a move to Los Angeles, it was a vintage year.

Domaine Anderson is an Anderson Valley AVA winery whose Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays you should know.

As 2020 begins, I’m thinking of the final bottle I opened in 2019, and looking forward to all the pours the new year promises. That last bottle of the past year was a 2015 Pinot Noir from Domaine Anderson, a wine I paired with burgers (and would gladly drink with lamb chops or a steak). Here are my thoughts on the wine, which first appeared in PaperCity.

Those bottles to come? First up will be something hailing from Italy …

Here’s to 2020, and all it promises.

Want more wine? Peruse these stories:

The Passion of Sarah Francis 
Drink This California Cabernet Franc
This Geologist Knows His Italian
From Boston to Austin, With Wine in Mind
A Chardonnay For Your Mother (and You)
Don’t Dismiss the Peat
Distinctive Whisky Enters a New Era
A Whisky Legend Visits Houston
A Rare Cask, Indeed
Austin Whisky, Strange Name
Here’s Your Texas Rum Goddess
A ZaZa Wine Guy Loves Great Service
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life

Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

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