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Tag: Wine Talk (Page 2 of 2)

Kathleen Inman is fond of Baudelaire, and Champagne.

Kathleen Inman: A Soul of Wine

August 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Kathleen Inman. Whenever I hear that name my mind immediately goes to France. Inman makes wine in Sonoma County as the owner of Inman Family Wines, but the story behind her Endless Crush Rosé captivated me when I first heard it, and since I love Provence …

I don’t know why I waited so long to feature Inman in Wine Talk, because she is a great conversationalist — a recent Zoom tasting confirmed my initial impression, which I made based on quotes, articles, and conversations with others. Her laugh rang through, and when I heard it during the virtual tasting it was uncannily similar to the one I heard in my head when reading descriptions of Inman.

Inman loves Rosé, and she loves Champagne, and her way with Pinot Noir makes me happy. She studied French literature in college, which is another reason I look forward to meeting her (Baudelaire, Rimbaud … what’s not to like?).

Oh yes, she farms the Olivet Grange Vineyard, from which comes some fine Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris fruit.

Memories of Provence …

If you are seeking a new Rosé to add to your list, order some Endless Crush. During our tasting, I sampled Inman’s 2017 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Special Blend. I loved it. Complex, elegant, wonderful acidity, and a fascinating fruit makeup (Olivet Grange, Sexton Road Ranch, and Vine Hill). This wine grandly represents Inman’s approach to her craft.

Let’s get to her Wine Talk.

James Brock: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. How about a food pairing for each one?

Kathleen Inman: First, 2018 and 2019 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé. I pair this with anything and everything. Kermit Lynch or Wine.com, $56

Next, 2019 Crocker & Starr Sauvignon Blanc Crocker Estate. Although it’s a little heavier in alcohol than past vintages, I have been drinking this recently. Crocker & Starr is the only wine club I belong to. I paired it recently with a caponata using eggplants and tomatoes from my garden. Purchased from the winery, $40

2015 Inman Family Extra Brut Luxe Cuvée, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that spent years on the yeast. It’s currently a favorite of my husband’s, Simon, and is $78 (available from the winery only).

Inman Family WInes Experience from Inman Family Wines on Vimeo.

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

KI: 2004 Krug Clos du Mesnil would be my choice. I had a bottle of this last year for my birthday, and it was very delicious. Clos du Mesnil, a tiny, walled vineyard, is a little gem. Krug, my favorite Champagne house, makes from it a single-vineyard, single-vintage, single-varietal sparkling wine that has mouthwatering Chardonnay fruit, crystalline acidity, and such a sense of place. This wine inspired me in making my sparkling wines; although they are made from Pinot Noir from the Inman Family OGV Estate vineyard, I kept the structure single-vineyard, single-vintage, and single-varietal, inspired by the Krug wines I love.

Clos du Mesnil: Do not tear down this wall.
Kathleen Inman with some Pinot Noir.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

KI: I have to be really predictable here: It is Pinot Noir that I am most passionate about. I love it in all of its guises: rich and redolent in ripe fruit, elegant and savory with texture like silk satin, made into Rosés, made into sparkling wines … all the Pinots!

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

KI: We tend to buy vintage port for birth years since it can cellar for much longer than 10 years, but of course, not every year is a vintage year. Of my own wines, the OGV Estate Pinot Noirs really come into their own after 10 years. I would recommend the 2017 vintage. It is elegant, and each time I taste it, it has a subtle, haunting character that is more beguiling as the months pass. I would love to have this in 2027 with a seared duck breast with lentils and sautéed spinach.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle?

KI: COVID-19 has made us very solitary homebodies these days. However, in pre-pandemic days, Corkage, in Bath, Somerset, UK was our favorite place to enjoy wine by the glass or the bottle with small plates. We have been going there often for some years. A fantastic list. I do miss being able to travel.

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

KI: On the business side, I think wine consumers should keep in mind that the best way to support small wineries is to buy from them directly. Distributors and retailers all make more money than the winery when a consumer purchases at a store. About 50-60 percent of the price of that bottle is all the winery gets — and from that they have to pay the taxes as well as the production costs. As often as you can, support wineries by buying direct.  

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

KI: My “wine eureka moment” that led to my passion for wine — as a consumer and later as a maker — was probably when I did a wine-tasting class offered by a local retailer when I was at UC Santa Barbara. I was fascinated by how the same grape grown in different places could result in wines that tasted so different, and then grapes grown in the same place but made by different people into wine were also different. Add in vintage differences and the variations were endlessly fascinating. Pinot Noir and Riesling were my first wine loves, but when I discovered Champagne … wow!

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or a film?

KI: Can I give two? Having studied a lot of French literature at university, I am a fan of the French Symbolist poets, and Baudelaire’s “L’âme du vin” (“The Soul of Wine”) is a favorite, but I would be remiss if I did not mention my friend Regine Rousseau, who, besides being a wine entrepreneur (Shall We Wine is her business), is a poet. Her recently published book — “Searching for Cloves and Lilies: The Wine Edition” — pairs her poems with wines, including one paired with my Endless Crush Rosé of Pinot Noir.

Want More Wine? Read On:

Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
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

Another harvest nears ...

Wines For Summer and Beyond

July 22, 2020 / / 0 Comments

How’s your summer going? Is it summer? Judging by most of the conversations I’m having, it’s a summer like no other … I do not count among my friends or acquaintances anyone who remembers the global pandemic of 1918-1919.

As usual, I’ve been tasting a lot of wines, for review purposes and otherwise, and every time I sit down to write about them, I hear a voice in my head saying something along these lines: “Wine? You are writing about wine? The world is falling apart, the alleged leader of the U.S. performing on par with the leaders of Russia, India, and Brazil, a pandemic is killing hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens, and you are extolling the wonders of Riesling?”

I listen to the voice, and I know it has a great point. “I am writing about wine, I respond to the voice, but I am also working on a piece that will attempt to lay out my emotions and thoughts about the chaos and dysfunction we are all experiencing.” The voice grows quiet, for a moment …

Yesterday, I published Wine Talk, this one featuring Bibiana González Rave, and today I’m going to sample one of her wines, a Syrah. She makes a Sauvignon Blanc that I wish everyone could taste. Get to know her, and buy some of her wines.

My Summer Wine Guide was published last week, at PaperCitymag.com. It is a selection of bottles I love, wines from, among other places, Italy and Oregon and California and Germany. Give it a read here.

As always, drink well, with those you love.

Want more wine? Read on:

Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
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

David Ramey Talks Moueix, Mexicali, and Hemingway

May 4, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to some of my friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

The first time I drank a wine made by David Ramey was epiphanic. I recall that I took a few sips, then put down the glass, savoring the whole of the moment. “This stuff is quality,” I said to myself. It was probably early in 2003, in Brooklyn, during dinner at home. A friend had brought the bottle of Chardonnay with him, and we were cooking flounder. It was a perfect wine, a perfect fish, and a perfect evening.

I love these wines.

Since then, I have opened and enjoyed many bottles produced by Ramey Wine Cellars, and they’ve never disappointed. Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays, Cabernet Sauvignons, Syrahs … not one was lacking.

I have written about Ramey and his wines, and I’ve read a lot about him and his approach to winemaking. This past September I met him at his winery, in Healdsburg, California. Angela, my wife, and I walked the short distance to the facility from the house in which we were staying, and Ramey, who was out front with members of his team, invited us to share their harvest-lunch food and wine. Sitting there, my mind went briefly back to that evening in Brooklyn, and the Chardonnay. It was as if a journey 17 years in the making had reached its destination.

Claire and David Ramey

After lunch, we went upstairs to Ramey’s office and had a comprehensive tasting. Ramey talked about his relationships with growers and other winemakers, and he enthusiastically took us through the bottles. It was a productive afternoon.

David Ramey is a generous and inspiring winemaker.

Ramey founded Ramey Wine Cellars with his wife, Carla, in 1996, and before that worked with Matanzas Creek, Chalk Hill, Dominus Estate and Rudd Estate. He holds a graduate degree from U.C. Davis — his thesis, written in 1979, is a seminal one, and if you want to learn how aromas evolve in wine, read it.

And Ramey Wine Cellars is a family affair; Carla and the couple’s children, Claire and Alan, are integral to the enterprise, and more than a few Ramey employees have been with the winery for nearly two decades.

Ramey’s demeanor is relaxed but exact; while he guided us through the tasting that afternoon he answered my questions with directness and clarity. He is a man who clearly loves what he does for a living, and what he bottles is a delicious demonstration of that love.

We left Ramey that afternoon with a recommendation for dinner that evening, Baci in Healdsburg. The man has great taste.

Let’s see what Ramey has to say in Wine Talk:

James Brock: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

David Ramey: Well, I assume you’re asking about our wines, so I’ll answer to that:  1)  2017 (or 2016) Fort Ross-Seaview Chardonnay, $42, widely available — or directly from us, www.rameywine.com.  2)  2017 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, $50, somewhat available, or from us.  3)  2015 Napa Valley Cabernet, $62, fairly available, or from us.  Foods, in sequence:  Chard — any seafood — salmon, crab, lobster, shrimp, scallops, halibut, sea bass.  Pinot — almost anything!  Cab — you know the drill — beef, lamb, chicken. For all three, nothing spicy hot or sweet (except the Pinot, which goes great with Thai). 

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

DR: A 1989 Petrus, because Carla and I were married in Montagne-Saint-Émilion while working chez Moueix, and she picked those grapes.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

DR: I’m loving cool-climate Syrah these days … (plus the odd bottle of Brunello).

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

DR: Our Pedregal Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet, any vintage.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside your home and workplace)?

DR: Baci in Healdsburg (closely followed by Campofina, Barndiva, and Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar).

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

DR: Just as when you (or at least I) buy a car —stretch just a little — spend a little bit more than you thought you should.  

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

DR: The long drive from Mexicali to Hermosillo in 1974, wondering what I was going to do next: The inspiration came to me, “Why not make wine?”

JB: What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

DR: I was monitoring the top of a 12,000-gallon tank of fermenting Chenin Blanc at Simi Winery in the early ’80’s, and we wanted to mix it, so a cellar worker put a propeller mixer into the racking valve down below.  We turned it on and off slowly several times — no reaction.  So we left it on longer … disaster!  The overflow went for minutes; the aisle was 6-inches deep in wine.  We lost a thousand gallons and learned that you don’t do that to a tank of fermenting wine.

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?

DR: “Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.”

And:  “I drank a bottle of wine for company. It was Château Margaux. It was pleasant to be drinking slowly and to be tasting the wine and to be drinking alone.  A bottle of wine was good company.”

Both from Hemingway.

Want more wine? Read on:

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

Richard Matuszczak will pour you some good wines at La Toque. (Megan Menicucci photo)

Wine Talk: Meet La Toque’s Richard Matuszczak

January 30, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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

Terry Theise: A man of wine.

Wine Talk: Graceful Memories and Inspiration, Born in Bottles

November 11, 2017 / / 0 Comments

One of the things I love about this crazy planet we call home is that our ancestors learned how to cultivate grapes and create wine. For thousands of years, vines growing in some of the most beautiful (and not so beautiful, in some cases) places in the world have mystified, confounded, pleased, nourished, and sustained multitudes of people: farmers, winemakers, drinkers royal and low, and all sorts of others in between have been changed by the grape. Those small orbs are miracles, worshipped by characters hailing from all walks of life.

I’ve been partaking of those miracles for a long time, since I was a high school student in the Rheinland Pfalz, home to, among other things, my favorite grape and wine, Riesling, and my Fußball team, 1. FC Kaiserslautern. I was introduced to both of them at around the same time, and though the team has been going through a period of crisis for too long now, a mere shadow of its Glory Days version, Riesling and her companions shine on.

God’s country, and home to some outstanding Rieslings. (Photo courtesy Germany.travel.com)

When I open a bottle of wine, I almost always think of the individuals who produced what’s in it. My mind wanders to the land on which the vines are growing and I mentally draw a picture of the harvest, imagine the tractors and baskets and weather and calloused hands. Without people, the wine would be nothing. Never forget that.

People. Beginning with the man — hand deformed on a battlefield in Germany — who sold me my first wine book (I recall still how he would hold the ink stamp he used to mark books purchased at his store), to Terry Theise and the woman who poured me a revelatory Crianza in a small tasting room in Rioja, people are the unifying factor in my journey with wine. There was the high school teacher with the cellar in the Pfalz who let me taste with him, and the restaurant owner in Florence who slipped a bottle into my backpack (he was, I guess, paying me back for the kindness I showed his elderly mother during my meal on that evening). Wine has been the common denominator in some of my most satisfying experiences and graceful memories, and I look forward to that continuing. That first book? “The Companion to Wine,” by Frank J. Prial.

Wine Talk, a series I started several years ago, is still going strong, and, similar to the world of wine, it has few limits. In it, I’ve introduced readers to scores of people and vintages, and I’ve made some friends. Their insights and recommendations and passions are laid down for the record, and I’m happy to put some of them (plus a few pieces on bottles I’ve enjoyed) in one place for your approval.

Below you’ll find Chris Nishiwaki, Donald Patz, Gerry Dawes, Vanessa Treviño Boyd, and David Keck, to name but a few. You’ll also, I hope, find the inspiration to go out and buy a few bottles based on what you read. Please create some graceful memories of your own. (And stay tuned for more Wine Talk.)

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

Wine Talk: From Cleveland to Houston, With No Nonsense

March 21, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Back in December 2016, I accepted an invitation to taste some wines at Rosinka Wine & Tea House, a little place in Houston to which I had never been. I’d driven by the wine bar (yes, tea is also sold there) several times, but never had the time to stop, so was happy to accept. On the evening of the tasting, Angela and I arrived and encountered Nicholas Cain, the man behind the bar at Rosinka. He poured and we talked and I grew to like Cain more as we spoke. He was — and is — straightforward, friendly, devoid of pretension, and passionate about food and wine and making sure people enjoy them.

I knew he would be the perfect subject for Wine Talk, so here it is. Give it a read, then pay a visit to Cain at Rosinka. You’ll enjoy the wines and the conversation.

Want more Wine Talk? Check out these stories:

The Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Terry Theise Talks Riesling and Champagne
The Wine Daughter
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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