Wine 101

Wine 101 is about offering and garnering knowledge for those of us non-wine snobs. It’s about debunking wine myths. And explaining what means what and why things are done a certain way in the wine world.

Want to be able to afford good wine - Start a Wine Cellar

How can one afford, let alone drink good wine year-round unless you are rich? That’s easy, start a wine cellar.  Anyone can do it, it’s easy. And it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. But what is a Wine Cellar? A wine cellar is, simplistically, a placeRead More →

More wine 101 - learning what a wine negociant is at PumpjackPiddlewick

I make no secret that Pumpjack is my very own, personal wine maker. Am I lucky, or what?  I’ve detailed our adventures in finding a vineyard after moving here to France in our Whatnots about Our Wine. I have also outlined (monthly) what’s involved in working a vineyard (read backRead More →

Do Wine Glass Shapes Matter_(Wine 103) with Pumpjack & Piddlewick

I am going to tell you a story about wine glass shapes. It’s a true story. In fact, it’s a personal experience story. The day, well, actually night, that I experienced an epiphany moment. Okay, maybe slight exaggeration, but my eyes were opened. Wine Tasting My better half (Pumpjack) wasRead More →

What does Terroir mean? Let's find out at PumpjackPiddlewick

We had a tasty Chablis last night with dinner. It got me to thinking how the wine is called ‘Chablis’ and not ‘Chardonnay’. You see, all the grapes growing around Chablis are Chardonnay. So go figure. In most countries we would say ‘Californian Chardonnay’ or ‘Australian Chardonnay’. Before I livedRead More →