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What Is This Thing? Tinto de Sol Calimocho
Welcome to the first installment of What Is This Thing?, in which we try odd bottles from the periphery of the world of wine. Today I’m tasting Tinto de Sol Calimocho. Is it wine? The label helpfully describes it as an “aromatized wine-product cocktail.” So, yes? Let’s get into it! Calimocho (also spelled Kalimoxto) is…
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Book Review: Oz Clarke’s Story of Wine (2024)
Think about the first wine you ever tasted. Can you remember the flavors, the label, the people who were with you? Place the bottle, in memory, on the left-hand side of a vastly wide, hypothetical shelf. Now think of your most recent wine–the one that’s still open in your fridge, or whose empty bottle may…
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Review: Sandeman “Character” Medium-Dry Amontillado Sherry
Guess what? We are Sherry fans on this blog. Get us slightly tipsy at a wine bar, and we will never shut up about how delicious the aged, fortified wines from Jerez are. My readers are lucky that The Sherry Fairy is an even dumber name for a website than The Wine Fairy, or else…
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The 6 biggest wine stories of 2024
Happy New Year from The Wine Fairy–and for bloggers and scrollers, a very happy List Week! This is the time of year when all of our favorite wine critics are posting lists of their top bottles of the year. We didn’t keep good enough tasting notes in 2024…so yeah, we’re not doing that. Instead, our…
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“Flabby,” “smooth,” “precise”? These 7 wine words are past their prime
When I read too many wine reviews, I feel like I’m getting smarter and dumber at the same time. On the one hand, I’m learning to talk about wine like the pros do! On the other hand, I’m ingesting a florid word salad that leaves me even more confused about what’s in the bottle. In…
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5 grape-y things to do in Grapevine, Texas
The Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas is becoming nationally known for its family-friendly attractions. Legoland, Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark, Sea Life Aquarium, and the Gaylord Texan Resort are all located nearby. But if you’re looking for a more adult kind of fun–the kind that involves crushing some tasty wines with friends–Grapevine has that, too.…
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All the Southwest Airlines in-flight wines, rated
To all of us wine nerds flying basic economy, be prepared to stow your taste and curiosity along with your roller bag. Since airlines restored alcohol service after the pandemic, the focus has been on efficiency and catering to the broadest swath of the flying public. Menus are getting smaller, prices are getting higher, and…
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Hold the wine diamonds, please! A hot take on cold stabilization
One Thursday afternoon, not too long ago, I was sitting at a local sports bar enjoying a whiskey and a Mavs game. My companion, perhaps against her better judgment, ordered the house red, a Pinot Noir. Out came the glass: Pigeons-blood ruby, filled a half-inch from the brim, and speckled with shards of a glass-like…
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My experience preparing for WSET Level 2
Nobody needs an industry credential to enjoy and learn about wine…but what if you just want one? Today, I thought I’d write a bit about my experience studying and preparing for the Wine & Spirits Education Trust Level 2 Award in Wines. I’m planning to take the exam in just over three weeks (January 2025).…
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How much should a mocktail cost?
It’s practically the definition of a First World Problem: How much is too much to pay for some ice cubes, soda water, and syrup/bitters in a glass? About five bucks, you say? A big slice of the internet agrees. On a popular Threads post, user “ughchase” writes: “in no world should mocktails cost $1-2 less…
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Review: The Costco Wine Adventure Calendar (2024)
Update: Costco’s 2025 calendar is out now! Peek inside the box here. Or, if you’re curious about what the wines taste like, check out our archive of reviews from the 2025 Wine Advent-ure Calendar. As every suburban wino knows, the wholesale club Costco can be a reliable source for better-than-drinkable wine at rock-bottom prices. The…
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Two-ingredient wine cocktails to make for the holidays
Ah, the holidays. ‘Tis the season of 12-ingredient punches, smoked and spiced cocktails, artfully strained Christmas cookie-tinis. Time to round up the party supplies. Time to drive to five different grocery stores, clean a bunch of specialty glassware…and oh, where did I put the sugarplum bitters? Okay Martha, calm down. Wouldn’t it be nice to…