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  • 2008
    • October
      • We've gone live!!
        10/27/08
        We've migrated from a beta site to the real thing. So check out the changes at arniemillan.com.



        If you have us in your "favorites" file, please update to the new site. This beta site will no longer be updated.



        Thank you!!

        Arnie

      • A Virtual Wine Tasting
        10/20/08
        I'm going to start something new - a virtual tasting group. Every week, I'll select a wine that is widely available and priced between $10 and $25 per bottle.



        If you'd like to join in, purchase the wine and submit your tasting notes as an email or as a posted co

      • The Black Wine of Cahors
        10/20/08
        Every once in a while you come across a wine that says "right back at ya!" It's almost scary how much power, weight and density resides in the fragile glass - I half expect it to burst apart!



        Such is the case with Chateau du Cedre's 2005 Cuvée Prestige Cah

    • September
      • A Giant of Wine Passes
        09/18/08
        The wine world lost one of its most original, iconoclastic and brilliantly talented winemakers yesterday, Didier Dagueneau. Didier died piloting his small, light aircraft over the Cognac region Wednesday morning, September 17th.



        His untimely death at 52 years of age reminds u

    • August
      • Wine Glasses and Tasting Wine
        08/28/08
        My recommendation is to choose a thin-walled stemmed glass or crystal glass – avoid a rolled lip on the edge. The bowl should be at least 5 inches high with a moderate 2.5 inch throat. This ensures enough air space in the glass to swirl the wine vigorously and thoroughly assess the wine’s variety of

      • The Thrilling Agony of Rinsing Wine Glasses
        08/26/08
        Do you worry about how best to rinse your fine glassware? Do you need to rinse if you serve more than one wine in the same glass. Well fret no more!



        Let’s look at two types of rinsing: 1) Rinsing glasses after use and 2) rinsing glassware in order to serve more than one wine

      • To decant or not to decant?
        08/11/08
        Believe it or not, decanting is controversial. Sommeliers discuss it and disagree, sometimes passionately. There is no absolute truth in decanting, as is true with many most vinous matters and, of course, life in general. Basically, it’s a matter of personal taste.



        Decanting i

    • July
      • Fall 2008 Class Schedule
        07/28/08
        Fall 2008 Wine Class Schedule - All Sundays

        at the Warwick Seattle Hotel, 401 Lenora Street

        full details are available by clicking on the red highlighted link



        Introduction to Wine Series

        Classes may be taken singly or as the entire series
      • Long-term storage of wine at home
        07/04/08
        If you have a basement in your house, and your budget or energy does not allow for a full-on temperature and humidity controlled wine cellar, then you may safely store wine for long periods.



        The basement must be underground with at least one open wall against earth. This can

    • June
      • Keep your wine cool in hot weather!
        06/29/08
        These are times that try our wines. If you don’t have a wine cooler at home or keep your wine at a local wine storage facility like Esquin’s, you risk “cooking” your better wines if it gets too hot – like today’s 95 degrees!



        What to do, especially if you’re on a tight budget?

      • More on the Brunello di Merlocino Scandal
        06/23/08
        Last Monday, I met with Hans Vinding Diers, winemaker at Argiano, one of the Brunello producers first implicated of adultering their wines. He was in town for a trade tasting with his importer, Vias.



        Diers, who seemed upfront and sincere, told me how the governments financial

      • An evening with Angelo Gaja
        06/15/08
        Wednesday evening I had the great pleasure of tasting the great Gaja wines with Angelo Gaja himself and a few close friends.

        What a treat!



        He is a living legend but it's what he has done and continues to do that makes him extraordinary. He's also a charmin

      • When the Wine hits your eye like a fake pizza pie, that's Nobile...
        06/06/08
        What on earth...? The reputation of Tuscan wine is unraveling faster than the thread of a Paula Abdul conversation.



        On top of the crisis in Montalcino, come revelations of adulteration and fraud in neighboring Montepulciano.



        According to the web site Vin

      • More Opera in Italia
        06/03/08
        The Brunello Consortium's credibility has just flown out the window. One day after they make a grand announcement, revealing a new, unprecedented Guarantee Board, supposedly in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, when said Minister, Lucca Zaia, repudiated the new Guarantee Board.
      • Brunello di Merlocino
        06/02/08
        Montalcino is in crisis. An investigation, made public in late March, raised suspicions that international grape varieties like Merlot, Cabernet and Petit Verdot, have been added to some wines sold as 2003 Brunello. Brunello must be 100% Sangiovese, so the addition of other grapes is not permitted.

    • May
      • What is a Bordeaux Blend?
        05/22/08
        In Bordeaux, the original wines made before the 19th century were basically field blends. That is, they harvested all the grapes together without sorting by varietal and vinified the lot together. Sometimes it would result in a pale red called a clairet, which the British called claret – a term they

      • Burgundy price trends
        05/18/08
        Price and availability trends in Burgundy are of great concern. Prices of everything European have been climbing rapidly, in great part due to the falling dollar. As consumers, we face tough decisions trying to seek out top producers whose price levels have not soared so high into the stratosphere a

      • Useful links
        05/14/08
        Below are some links I find very useful. I'd love your comments on your favorite sites or your thoughts on the sites below.



        Helpful Links:



        Seattle Wine Events



        CellarTracker



        Wine Dictionary
      • Syrah or Shiraz - what is the difference?
        05/11/08
        Many people ask me about the difference between Shiraz and Syrah. Are they different grapes?



        Shiraz and Syrah are exactly the same grape. The stories about the grape’s origins are fascinating:



        • that the grape’s origins are from the city of Shiraz in anc

      • The extraordinary wines of Domaine Leroy
        05/09/08
        Monday I had the privilege of tasting an array of wines from Domaine Leroy (estate) and Maison Leroy (negotiant). As you may know, Lalou-Bize Leroy runs one of the very finest domains in Burgundy – some believe it may be the finest. Clive Coates writes of her wines in general: “The wines are magni

      • Killer red value
        05/07/08
        Below is an outstanding value in a Bordeaux red blend which I've tasted over the last two days.



        Vignalta Rosso Riserva 2004 Colli Eugani $19.99/bottle or $227.89/case



        92 Arnie points



        Wow. This wine has been open nearly 24

      • Beautiful 1995 Chianti Riserva
        05/07/08
        Tasting properly matured wine is, alas, a rare treat. All too often we consume good wine in its infancy. It may be very good - even great - but we miss out on the additional complexities and subtleties achieved by discreet ageing.



        Recently, I had the pleasure of tasting the 19

      • 98 point Syrah Hermitage from Chapoutier
        05/07/08
        "Year in and year out, one of the three greatest Hermitages made is Chapoutier's Le Pavillon."



        - Robert Parker



        We just made a terrific 'opportunity buy" of two great vintages of Michel Chapoutier's Ermitage "Le Pav

      • Classic, fine affordable red Burgundy
        05/07/08
        According to Allen Meadows of Burghound, Paul Jacqueson, "runs one of the finest domaines in all of the Côte Chalonnaise." I came upon this wine at a trade tasting recently. There were approximately 70 wines tasted. I liked this Burgundy immediately so I asked to re-taste it when I could

    • April
      • Big, lush Oregon Pinot
        04/20/08
        Last night, a trio of Esquinites (Jeff, Scott, me) attended a trade-only tasting at a distributor's South-end warehouse. The were some outstanding wines most of which I'll write up soon (1994 Chateau Musar, 2003 Jacqueson Mercurey 1er cru Naugues, etc.).





      • Join Arnie in Piedmont, Italy this September
        04/20/08
        An Italian Food & Wine Adventure

        Wines & Truffles of Piedmont, Liguria, Tuscany & Umbria

        September 25- October 5, 2008



        Join Arnie Millan on an exclusive 12-day wine journey to Piedmont, Liguria, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio. Sample fine Barolo�

    • March
      • The wines of the Rhone Valley March 2nd and 9th
        03/02/08
        Sommelier Arnie Millan will host a two-part series of classes which will focus on the wines of the Rhone, their history and their effects on the world of wine. The first class, on Sunday March 2nd, features the Northern Rhone Valley from Cote-Rotie to Saint-Peray. The second class, on Sunday March 9