The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Is Pet-Nat, Exactly? - How Pet-Nat Is Made - Pet-Nat vs. Champagne vs. Prosecco - Where Pet-Nat Comes From - Food Pairings - Running a Pet-Nat Tasting for a Group - Common Questions - Bringing a Pet-Nat Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading Every wine list in the country seems to have a pet-nat on it now, usually with a hand-drawn label and a name that sounds more like a band than a wine. I get asked about it constantly at tastings — people know it's trendy, they know it's "natural," and almost nobody can actually explain what makes it different from a regular sparkling wine. Which is a shame, because the actual answer is one of the more genuinely interesting winemaking stories out there, and it's a lot older than the trend cycle suggests. This guide covers what pet-nat actually is, how it's made, how it compares to Champagne and Prosecco, and how to build it into a tasting that turns a trendy word into something your group actually u...

Table of Contents - What Is Pet-Nat, Exactly? - How Pet-Nat Is Made - Pet-Nat vs. Champagne vs. Prosecco - Where Pet-Nat Comes From - Food Pairings - Running a Pet-Nat Tasting for a Group - Common Questions - Bringing a Pet-Nat Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading Every wine list in the country seems to have a pet-nat on it now, usually with a hand-drawn label and a name that sounds more like a band than a wine. I get asked about it constantly at tastings — people know it's trendy, they know it's "natural," and almost nobody can actually explain what makes it different from a regular sparkling wine. Which is a shame, because the actual answer is one of the more genuinely interesting winemaking stories out there, and it's a lot older than the trend cycle suggests. This guide covers what pet-nat actually is, how it's made, how it compares to Champagne and Prosecco, and how to build it into a tasting that turns a trendy word into something your group actually u...

Table of Contents - What Is Cinsault? - What Cinsault Tastes Like - Cinsault vs. Grenache - Where Cinsault Comes From - Food Pairings - Building a Group Tasting Around Cinsault - Common Questions - Bringing a Cinsault Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading Cinsault is one of those grapes that most wine drinkers have had dozens of times without ever knowing its name. It's the workhorse behind a huge share of the world's great rosé, a quiet supporting player in Rhône blends everyone's heard of, and lately the star of a small but serious movement of single-varietal bottlings that are finally giving it the credit it deserves. If you've been working through the more famous Rhône grapes — Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre — cinsault is the one still hiding in plain sight. This guide covers what cinsault actually is, why it's such a good rosé grape, how it compares to the bigger reds it's usually blended with, and how to build a real tasting around it. What Is Cinsault? Cinsa...

Table of Contents - What Is Cinsault? - What Cinsault Tastes Like - Cinsault vs. Grenache - Where Cinsault Comes From - Food Pairings - Building a Group Tasting Around Cinsault - Common Questions - Bringing a Cinsault Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading Cinsault is one of those grapes that most wine drinkers have had dozens of times without ever knowing its name. It's the workhorse behind a huge share of the world's great rosé, a quiet supporting player in Rhône blends everyone's heard of, and lately the star of a small but serious movement of single-varietal bottlings that are finally giving it the credit it deserves. If you've been working through the more famous Rhône grapes — Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre — cinsault is the one still hiding in plain sight. This guide covers what cinsault actually is, why it's such a good rosé grape, how it compares to the bigger reds it's usually blended with, and how to build a real tasting around it. What Is Cinsault? Cinsa...

Table of Contents - What Is a Negroni? - Where the Negroni Comes From - The Classic Ratio and How to Build It - Negroni Variations Worth Knowing - Building a Group Tasting Around the Negroni - Common Questions - Bringing a Negroni Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I've watched a lot of people order a Negroni without really knowing what they're getting — they've heard it's "the bartender's drink," the thing you order to signal you know what you're doing, and they brace for something punishing. Then it arrives, and it turns out to be balanced, bitter in a good way, genuinely simple. That gap between reputation and reality is exactly why the Negroni deserves its own guide instead of just living in the shadow of Campari. This guide covers where the Negroni actually comes from, the ratio that makes it work, its most important variations, and how to build it into a real group tasting instead of just another round at the bar. What Is a Negroni? A Negroni...

Table of Contents - What Is a Negroni? - Where the Negroni Comes From - The Classic Ratio and How to Build It - Negroni Variations Worth Knowing - Building a Group Tasting Around the Negroni - Common Questions - Bringing a Negroni Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I've watched a lot of people order a Negroni without really knowing what they're getting — they've heard it's "the bartender's drink," the thing you order to signal you know what you're doing, and they brace for something punishing. Then it arrives, and it turns out to be balanced, bitter in a good way, genuinely simple. That gap between reputation and reality is exactly why the Negroni deserves its own guide instead of just living in the shadow of Campari. This guide covers where the Negroni actually comes from, the ratio that makes it work, its most important variations, and how to build it into a real group tasting instead of just another round at the bar. What Is a Negroni? A Negroni...