Day Two: Window on New Orleans Past and Present

We disembarked for a private tour of Antoine’s Restaurant. Opened in 1840, Antoine’s is the oldest in New Orleans and oldest family-run restaurant in the country. It has 15 different dining rooms, with a variety of old photos and artifacts from Mardi Gras royalty. It continued to serve wine and booze during Prohibition, we’re told, by using a bit of hallway which was part of the “ladies room” to allow the men to pass through a secret door.

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Qué Syrah and Pinot Noir! Olson Ogden Wines

This beautiful small lot Syrah is opaque, an inky purple with gorgeous ripe fruit. Blueberries, blackberries and rich baking spices on the nose, reminded Joe of a succulent pie. Once in the mouth, we tasted more of the blackberry and blueberry flavors, brown sugar and cloves, with a nice toasty oak on a finish that ended in gobs of fruit, spice, vanilla and velvety tannins.

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Wine Tasting Clubs: Solving the Mystery One Glass at a Time

I had heard my husband talk about Iris for weeks during his ISG studies but didn’t meet her until the class got together for a holiday party last December. Many of the students had obtained part-time pouring gigs at local Houston wine bars. But we found ourselves at Iris’ tastings most often—because she was pouring on weekends and her bubbly personality is just so hard to resist.

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Somewhere Over the Rhine: Riesling

When you mention Riesling, many will say “Oh, I don’t really like sweet wines, ” assuming all wines labeled Rieslings are sweet. However, Riesling can fall anywhere on the spectrum from bone dry to an intensely-concentrated sweetness, with variances in between. Riesling is one of the varietals most determined by its terroir, and wines can differ in their level of alcohol by volume. Many of the classic German semisweet version are 8% alcohol by volume or less, while newer, dryer Alsace and Austrian Rieslings are around 12%.

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