Comfort wines for Danish fare

Denmark is a not a wine growing country but the Danish have developed an interesting concept of “hygge” which means something like a feeling of well-being, warm, comfortable or cozy. The traditional cuisine of Denmark has a lot of comfort foods and is sometimes referred to as a buttery cuisine. In this week’s column I’ll pick two traditional Danish dishes and match them with “comfort wines”, wines that contribute to the Danish feeling of hygge. Read more

Chilean wine and food classics

Blessed by abundant natural resources, Chile offers some of the world’s most intriguing foods and wines. Vines were first planted in Chile in the mid 16th century by Spanish missionaries and settlers making the country one of the oldest of the new world producers. Over the past three decades, new investment in technology and winemaking skills has resulted in a vast improvement in quality. In fact, many consider the price quality ratio of Chilean wines to be the best in the world. Read more

戒不掉的「獨飲」

不論是在台北或是在上海，我生活上的小小樂趣之一就是在家獨飲。正因為我在外頭做了許多葡萄酒、烈酒、食物的相關活動，我難得會在家放鬆地享受一款酒，純飲也好，搭配正餐、點心也好。很奇怪的是，過去在某些傳統的盎格魯撒克遜社會中，有人在家喝酒是會被人家皺眉頭的。家中的男人被人家叫到當地的酒吧喝酒，喝得酩酊大醉都沒有關係，然而在家喝幾杯葡萄酒或威士忌，卻會被認為不妥。不過幸運的是，目前大多數現代社會都認為在家適量飲酒是可接受的，然而飲酒過量，不管在什麼地方都是不可接受的。以下提供你一些在家獨飲的技巧，讓你喝得盡情又盡興。

有備而來
不管在什麼地方，品酒過程中的一個環節便是酒呈現的方式。無論是葡萄酒、威士忌還是雞尾酒，任何酒只要盛裝在漂亮的酒杯中，看起來、感覺起來，甚至嚐起來都會更美味。美感真的很重要，所以在家完美獨飲的第一步就是要確定你有沒有適當的杯子。不用考慮那些醜陋的小玻璃杯了，你需要的是水晶杯。這種神奇材質所製成的容器正是你在家品飲任何酒類的最佳選擇。 Read more