Category Archives: Wine + Food

Italian Elegance: Lugana Wines

Posted on October 31, 2016 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews For wine lovers, Italy’s incredible regional diversity and myriad grape varieties – many of them indigenous, and some produced only in certain Italian locales – are the gifts that keep on giving. But that’s what also makes Italian … Continue reading →

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Killer Bordeaux Bargain: Chateau Carbonneau

Posted on May 17, 2016 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews It’s no secret that Bordeaux represents a great source of wine value, despite the outsized focus on the Grand Cru chateaux and hallowed First Growths (which certainly have their place, too). Value, of course, is a very relative thing, but … Continue reading →

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A Minervois “Reunion”…with Sainte Eulalie

Posted on February 13, 2016 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews This past weekend I had a reunion of sorts. Not with college or grad school classmates, mind you, but with one of my favorite French producers from the Languedoc, Chateau Sainte Eulalie, located in the rugged, herb-laced hills of … Continue reading →

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Bordeaux Braves Yet Another NYC Blizzard

Posted on February 1, 2016 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews For the second year in a row, the annual NYC tasting of the Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux was affected by a blizzard — winter storm Jonas — this time the weekend preceding the January 25th … Continue reading →

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Tuscan Value: the Maremma

Posted on November 11, 2015 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews Tuscan wines, like Chianti (in its many iterations), the esteemed Brunello di Montalcino and the “Super Tuscans” (such as Sassicaia and Antinori’s Tignanello), are well-known on these shores, at least among cognoscenti. Less familiar, but sources of distinct value, are some of … Continue reading →

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A Serious Summer Pink (and Other Food/Wine Matters)

Posted on June 29, 2015 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews I had tarragon on the brain. We have a perennial patch of tarragon upstate, and this summer, it has produced like no other year. Normally, I have to constrain Kathryn from pillaging the entire clump in one … Continue reading →

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An Alsatian April Fools’ (for the Wine Media Guild)

Posted on April 3, 2015 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews At the Wine Media Guild’s (WMG) recent lunch on April 1, 2015 at Felidia, there was no fooling around: the theme was Alsace, featuring the aromatic, earthy and food-friendly white varietal wines it produces so well — … Continue reading →

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Biodynamic Syrah, Naturally (from Chateau Maris)

Posted on January 27, 2015 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews Before going to our friends’ house for a Boxing Day gathering during the holidays, I stopped by Sipperly’s, our local wine shop upstate, for a gift bottle of wine. As I’ve mentioned before, the store’s layout is chaotic, … Continue reading →

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New Zealand Value: Mud House Wines

Posted on December 15, 2014 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews When considering “value wines” for holiday imbibing — highly drinkable wines with attractive price/quality ratios — New Zealand (NZ), especially its copious, often palate-rocking Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs (SB), deserves to be in the discussion. About the size of California, … Continue reading →

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Chinese Chili for the Year of the Horse

Posted on February 12, 2014 by upstatedowntown

By Christopher Matthews Chinese New Year is something we observe by way of a home-cooked Chinese meal, now guided by Kathryn’s “clean Chinese” adaptations of some of her family’s favorite recipes, like her mother’s roast pork (Char Siu), her father’s Sichuanese “strange taste chicken” … Continue reading →

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