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We really loved Eric Asimov's column this week in the New York Times, "A Wine Critic’s Realm Isn’t a Democracy."

"Should wine critics allow their personal preferences to color their critical views?" asks Eric. "Or should they remain neutral on questions regarding a wine’s style, regardless of how they feel about it?"

We all know the story of Jesus turning water into wine at Cana, as recounted in the Gospel According to St. John.

The miracle is significant, of course, because "it is the first of the seven miraculous signs by which Jesus's divine status is attested, and around which the gospel is structured" (Wikipedia).

Today finds me in Proseccoland, traveling the "Strada del Prosecco" or "Prosecco Route" between Conegliano, Valdobbiadene, and Asolo, the three townships that make up the Prosecco DOCG.

In 2009, the Prosecco grower and bottler association (the Consorzio del Prosecco) obtained a DOCG that covers the three townships above.

They share a common topography: Morainic hills that jut violently out of the plains below, with the Dolomite Alps just beyond to the north.

Today finds me in Tuscany, where I've been having a look around Chianti Classico.

(I'm currently making my way up from Rome, where I landed yesterday, to Verona, where I'll be attending Vinitaly, Italy's annual wine trade fair.)

It was incredible to see how green the landscape is there: a very short (practically non-existent) winter has accelerated the vegetative cycle here and throughout Italy.

As one grower said to me today, the soil just never got cold enough.

The Boulder Wine Mechant has a new contributor to its blog!

My name is Jeremy Parzen and you may have noticed that I started posting here a few weeks ago.

I already know a lot of you through wine and food social media. 

But for those of you whom I've never had the pleasure to meet (virtually or in real-time), please allow me to introduce myself.

I first became interested in European wine while a graduate student in Italy where I lived and worked for many years (I received my doctorate in Italian at U.C.L.A. in 1997).

Feeling confused (overwhelmed, actually) by the tide of French and Italian appellation designations? 

Well, join the club!

Historically, the wines of France have been classified under the AOC or Appellation d'origine contrôlée system: Appellation of Controlled Origin, a classification created by the French government in the 1950s.

To obtain AOC status, wines must be made from authorized grape varieties grown in designated areas. And they must be vinified, packaged, and marketed in accordance with the appellation's standards.

Let's face it: Italian winery designations can be confusing, hard to understand, and difficult to pronounce.

In this post (the first in a series of winery designations explained and correctly pronounced), we look at three very common Italian winery terms: cantina, casa, and cascina, and discuss their meaning and usage.

Do you have a term that's left you scratching your head? Please leave a comment in the comment section and let us know what it is: we'll deliver an explanation in an upcoming post.

Boulder Wine Merchant's owner, Master Sommelier Brett Zimmerman, will be heading next week to California for the Paulée de San Francisco, the annual gathering of Burgundy producers and collectors, now in its fourteenth year.