Red Wine

Cooking with Pete and Barb Marczyk: Stracotto

Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market's choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. While the weather promises to w ... More >>

Drakes Haus -- home of the "merlot burger" -- will open in Boulder in mid-May

I don't know about you, but I've never had a "merlot burger" -- a burger that's been injected, literally, with the deep blue-hued wine grape. But come mid-May, all of us will have the opportunity to try one when Drakes Haus, a restaurant that, in fact, squirts merlot into its burgers, opens in Bould ... More >>

Four top wine trends for 2013

Welcome to 2013 and the next year of your wine-drinking life. Over the past twelve months we saw a slew of clever new wine concepts worth trying, and a whole lotta wine-related WTFs to studiously avoid. All the while we watched and waited, eyes peeled for signs of the wine-related developments that ... More >>

Cooking with Pete and Barb Marczyk: savory and sweet beef brisket with merlot and prunes

Pete Marczyk and Barbara Macfarlane do not leave their work behind when they leave Marczyk Fine Foods and head for their great old Denver house with the big, new kitchen. They often bring some of their market's choicest ingredients home with them and cook up a feast. When it comes to prunes, there ... More >>

Stranahan's will release its latest Snowflake series whiskey on Saturday

Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey will release the latest batch of its highly-prized, limited-edition Snowflake series at 9 a.m. on Saturday. This one was cask- conditioned for months in two hand-picked Malbec barrels from Denver's Spero Winery. The distillery puts out one or two Snowflake series batche ... More >>

Plenty of beer and wine will be flowing this evening

The Rocky Mountain French American Chamber of Commerce will host the fourteenth annual Beaujolais and Beyond Food & Wine Festival at Infinity Park Event Center, 4400 East Kentucky Avenue, tonight from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. The fundraiser features more than twenty local restaurants, and participating che ... More >>

Moving to Canada to protest the election results? Three things to know about Canadian wine

No matter who you were pulling for in last night's Presidential contest, if you were on the losing side, you undoubtedly heard more than a few of your disgruntled peeps threaten to move to Canada in protest. Well, before you start packing your bags, we thought it only proper to give you the lowdown ... More >>

Five stellar South African wines

Wine drinkers typically skew into two categories: those who love the taste of dirt, and those who are all about big fruit flavors. Put another way, the first group consists of peeps who worship at the altar of everything old world, including wines from across the pond (read: Europe), usually in a st ... More >>

Four fall-worthy red wines to fall in love with

What makes a red wine fall -- or should we say, fall in love -- worthy? Given the record-setting quantities of rosé we consumed over the past few months, you might assume that getting us to loosen our death grip on pink wines would equal a Herculean feat.

Three juicy facts (and wines) to get you ready for National Cabernet Day

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be another day dedicated to the celebration of...well, anything, oenophiles around the country will raise filled-to-the-brim glasses to toast National Cabernet Day on Thursday. While it's easy to dismiss these booze-filled events as just another excuse t ... More >>

Colorado will celebrate farm-fresh hops with a new Hops Nouveau festival

Every year on the third Thursday in November, the world celebrates Beaujolais Nouveau, field-fresh young red wines from France that are meant to celebrate the harvest and be enjoyed right away. This September, Colorado beer brewers will do something similar for hops by kicking off a Hops Nouveau par ... More >>

The top pink wines of summer 2012 (that cost less than $15)

There are almost too many reasons to love (and drink) pink during summer. When the living is easy, wine should be, too; nothing fussy or elaborate needs to be uncorked (or more often these days, unscrewed) when it's too damned hot to do anything but lounge. And the very best part of rosé season? Fi ... More >>

Three surprising things Jax Fish House has in common with Sineann Winery (and The French Laundry)

True confession: We rarely go to Jax Fish House in search of amazing wine. That's not to say that we never go there. In fact, we've had more meals at Jax than you can shake a fish stick at. Way back in the day when folks were still a bit skeptical about the availability of fresh, quality seafood in ... More >>

Three Colorado winemakers worthy of Drink Local Wine week love

A little more than nine months ago, we ruffled a lot more than a few feathers by voicing our opinion on the local wine industry. Everyone from the Front Range Winery Association to hobbyist vintners juiced over where we got the balls to speak our minds on such an -- unbeknownst to us -- unbelievabl ... More >>

Five Italian wines your American palate will love

Just tell the truth, already: you are totally freaked out by Italian wine. By "freaked out", we mean shaking like a leaf. Shivering in your shorts. Just plain scurrred. Ask a wine retailer which category they find most challenging to sell to less experienced consumers, and you're likely to hear the ... More >>

Four surprising reasons Silver Oak wines deserve a spot on your table

Cult-favorite, pricey and snooty -- three adjectives you may have heard associated with Silver Oak Winery at some point in your life as an oenophile. The first two are true enough: A passionate set of followers obsess over the brand, hoarding prized vintages in cellars for future generations to savo ... More >>

Eleven stellar pinot noirs (and eight rock-star winemakers) mark the Pinot Posse's return to Denver

Kendra AndersonPinot...yummy.​Our wait was finally over. Last night, exactly 365 days after our first, utterly unforgettable evening with eight über-talented winemakers known as the Pinot Posse, we saddled up and ventured into the wilds of the Denver Tech Center for another wine-drenched homa ... More >>

The twelve wines of Christmas 2011: the rest of the best

​With only a few days to go until Christmas, it's time to 'fess up: Have you been naughty or nice? For goodness' sake, here's hoping you've been on your very best behavior this year -- because then you're fully deserving of these six stupendous bottles. Read on for the continuation of last ... More >>

Silver Vines Winery opens in Olde Town Arvada

​Brothers Jeff and Danny Chayer are originally from Minnesota, but they've spent the past four years working in the Texas wine industry. "He was a winemaker," Danny says of Jeff. "I was a manager of one of the wineries." There, they learned the ropes of the craft, and, Danny says, developed ... More >>

Beaujolais and Beyond at Infinity Park

​Beaujolais is always one of the most anticipated varietals, and you can celebrate this year's release at the Beaujolais and Beyond Festival that runs from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Infinity Park Event Center, 4400 East Kentucky Avenue. Admission is $55 to $75, and buys you tastes of French wines a ... More >>

Three reasons why tasting blind helps you drink better wine

​Blind tastings: They're not just for sommeliers anymore. It's true. A significant part of becoming an advanced level sommelier involves learning to identify wines the hard way -- by relying 100 percent on the wine's appearance in the glass, smell and taste. Given that you are probably not, ... More >>

Five soul-warming Colorado wines to savor during the snowstorm

​Like it or not, for years people have habitually lumped wines from Colorado into its own special (read: inferior) category of domestic winemaking. Bottles from other, more mainstream wine-producing regions in the U.S., like California, Oregon, and Washington State, seem to score all the props ... More >>

Three Cool Things To Know Before You Try Infinite Monkey Theorem's Monkey Shine

​Last Friday night, at a pop-up speakeasy on the rooftop of Ghost Plate & Tap, Denver wine lovers had their first opportunity to sample the latest cool kid offering from The Infinite Monkey Theorem: Monkey Shine, the winery's brand-spanking-new keg wine. IMT certainly isn't the first to join ... More >>

Four crave-worthy harvest season wines

It's finally October, and our crisp, cooler weather serves as a harbinger of harvest season. This time of year also has our mouths watering for fall's more luxurious, soul-satisfying menus. And you know what that means, right? Richer food calls for wines that can step up to the challenge. If this su ... More >>

Six Denver fast-casual restaurants with super-cool wine lists

Madison Street is a good-looking restaurant, made better by its wine list. ​Why is it that so many of Denver's more moderately priced (referred to in the industry as "fast casual") restaurants have wine lists that make the oenophiles among us want to just give up and order a beer? It's as if t ... More >>

Five rockin' rosés that transition from summer to fall..and beyond

​Congratulations, wine lovers: In 2010, the good ol' U. S. of A. officially consumed more wine than France for the first time ever. And as we predicted earlier this year, America's love affair with pink wine just keeps getting hotter -- evidenced by the fact that exports of rosé (and red) wi ... More >>

Gary Vaynerchuk takes notice of Colorado wines, and so does the Washington Post

​Gary Vaynerchuk, New York Times-bestselling author and host of the Daily Grape video podcast, has real power with wine purchasers. And when he said that the 2007 Guy Drew Vineyards Metate, from a vineyard in Cortez, was "surprisingly good," the viewers that regularly leave 700-plus comments o ... More >>

The five best rosés for mid-summer sipping

​So many delicious rosés, so few languid, warm-weather days to enjoy them. This is simultaneously our favorite and most dreaded part of the summer; the temps are sizzling (which we love), but the days are getting shorter (which we hate). The sad fact of the matter is that there are only about ... More >>

Reader question: so what IS the proper temperature for serving red wine?

​In my review of Row 14, I had very little to gripe about, since the restaurant served me one of the best meals I've had in a long time. But I did take issue with the temperature of a glass of pinot noir, which hit my table a few degrees too warm. This problem isn't unique to Row 14. In fact ... More >>

Three great reasons to think inside the box (wine, that is)

​Let's face it: Boxed wines are not exactly perceived as the pinnacle of wine-drinking chic. Don't believe us? Just try showing up with a box of wine -- any box -- at next week's graduation/barbecue/baby shower and observe the look of utter disdain creep across your friends' faces. Yeah, they' ... More >>

Five Colorado wines (finally!) worth drinking by the case

​Have you ever gotten the impression that Colorado wines kinda suck? If you're really, really honest with yourself, you probably answered yes - and you're not the only person who feels that way. A glance at the wine list of many of Denver's top-rated dining destinations routinely reveals fewer ... More >>

Four perfect-for-summer Italian wines

​Italian wines can be hard to love. They're unabashedly old world, full of mouthwatering acidity, brazenly tannic, and as terroir-driven as they come. They're also endlessly intriguing. Each of Italy's winemaking regions tells the unique, richly historic tale of its evolution from independent ... More >>

Five best burger-worthy wines for less than $20

​Last week, we gave you the lowdown on our picks for Denver's top five burgers, piquing the ire of quite a few local burger-loving peeps. In the spirit of fueling potentially even more controversy, we felt it only proper for us to spark a whole new debate: What kinds of wine pair best with bur ... More >>

Three more old world wines worth checking out

​Last week I threw down a challenge: taste an old world wine next to its new world counterpart and judge for yourself whether old world wines truly deserve their reputation as best in class. Even though I screwed up and included tasting notes from a Rhône wine instead of the Burgundy I was t ... More >>

Tonight: Ototo Food and Wine Bar's Pinot Noir-tasting and benefit for Japan

​Over the past week, Ototo Food and Wine Bar, Izakaya Den and Sushi Den have raised over $50,000 for the Japanese Red Cross. Each of the restaurants will have donation buckets out for the rest of the month, so that diners can make direct contributions to relief efforts. But from 6 to 8 p.m. t ... More >>

Two wines that prove old world still rules

​There's been a lot of debate in the wine world of late, the gist of which revolves around whether popular, top-selling new world wines deserve their acclaim. It's an interesting debate, for sure. Are Napa Valley cabs every bit as good as their Bordeaux-based brethren? For that matter, should ... More >>

El Diablo, Ototo dinners should whet your appetite for Denver Restaurant Week

​Although Denver Restaurant Week, which starts on February 26, is the real movable feast, two new kids on the restaurant block are offering major deals on Tuesday, February 22. El Diablo, which opened last August at 101 Broadway, is offering its second tequila dinner featuring Republic Tequil ... More >>

The Infinite Monkey Theorem winery gets major love from Wine Spectator

​Valentine's Day came early for Ben Parsons, winemaker/owner of The Infinite Monkey Theorem winery. Not in the form of chocolate-covered corkscrews or any other such frippery; the gift he received was something every Colorado winemaker has been pining away for: a Wine Spectator score of 88 poi ... More >>

Five Super Bowl wines that score big

​The Super Bowl ain't exactly designed for wine lovers. Even though wine consumption in the United States is higher than ever, this annual football lovers' celebration (and the vast majority of its commercials) usually revolves around that good old sporting event standby: beer. Don't get me ... More >>

Eight great Pinot Posse winemakers strut their juice at Table 6

​Imagine an evening wherein eight of the coolest, most talented and down-to-earth pinot noir producers present their hand-picked selections for you to taste -- and by taste, we mean consume liberal amounts of -- while you soak up stories about how the grapes looked at harvest and why the weath ... More >>

Five reasons why The Infinite Monkey Theorem might become your favorite winery

​It's a bitter drink to swallow, but Colorado's not exactly famous for making outstanding wines. Instead, an invitation to sample Colorado wines is typically met with anything from incredulity to utter scorn. That's not to say that all Colorado-bred wines suck. It's just that there aren't more ... More >>

The best meal I ate all year: Peter Franus wine dinner at Elway's Downtown

​When I was invited to a special dinner with winemaker Peter Franus at Elway's Downtown, I was a tad skeptical as to how, exactly, they would cater that meal to my palate. As a vegetarian, I usually turn down invites like this -- I've worked in the restaurant industry for many years, and far b ... More >>

Paul Giese's class at D'Vine Wine: don't overswirl and [Yellow Tail] gets a red light

J. WohletzSommelier Paul Giese​ Saving the world from wine ignorance, one glass at a time -- that's Paul Giese, executive sommelier, certified wine educator and instructor at last Saturday's chocolate, wine and cheese tasting class held at D'Vine Wine. Giese teaches wine-tasting workshops ide ... More >>

Swirl Girl: The twelve wines of Christmas 2010: Part one

​Have you ever found yourself pondering the notion that if your goal was to drink a bottle of wine every day from today until your last day on this earth, you'd never have to try the same wine twice? A nobler task may never present itself to you, so what are you waiting for? With just twelve d ... More >>

The Peter Franus wine dinner at Elway's Downtown catered equally to vegetarian and omnivore palates

​Winemaker Peter Franus holds a journalism degree from the University of California at Berkeley -- and his collegiate proximity to Napa Valley ended up being pivotal to his career choice, which is winemaking. His first wine, a zinfandel, was produced in 1987, and Franus has been creating delic ... More >>

Four fantastic, not-so-spooky Halloween wines

​Let's be honest: Halloween is not a holiday that typically conjures up images of wine drinking. Visions of miniature Snickers bars, pumpkin-flavored beer and slutty costumes? Absolutely. Still, as any serious wine lover will assure you, not even the omnipresence of glowing jack-o'-lanter ... More >>

Five stellar New Zealand reds under $20

​New Zealand produces some damn fine wines, and it's high time you started drinking them. Surely by now you've consumed more than your fair share of Australian red wines, right? Plenty of big, fleshy shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, each of which bears the telltale signs of an Aussie s ... More >>

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