A thriving grape farm.
Traditional long-stemmed winemug.

Here at the culture offices, we're excited about wine.

Some of you may know it; a wonderful, traditional beverage, it offers a whole world of taste sensations, and has a noble history of its own. But we  sometimes feel like it lives in the shadow of its more illustrious pairing pairing partner, cheese. In an attempt to bring some light to wine's sometimes obscure world, we'd like to offer this introduction to some common wine terms, translated for the cheese enthusiast.

I have a rough, tough life. Aline Baly, whose family owns and operates Chateau Coutet, a 1er Grand Cru Classé Sauternes vineyards in Barsac, Bordeaux, France, dropped into the shop and opened up full bottles of their 1989, 1997, 2002 and 2003 vintages with the hopes of finding good pairings to accompany them. I was joined by cheese & food writer Janet Fletcher (who lives nearby in downtown Napa), Master Sommelier Peter Granoff, and my partner in cheeses & monger extraordinaire at our Oxbow cheese shop, Ricardo Huijon. Needless to say, it wasn't one of our hardest days on the job...

My name is Robin Berger, you can find out more about me and what I like to cook on my food blog: http://blog.hippoflambe.com