Terroir Review

Nerello Mascalese and olive trees

Italy, Red Wines, Rosé Wines, Sparkling Wines, White Wines, Wine Reviews

Tasting Report: Red and White Wines of Mt. Etna

by Meg Maker

Sixty recommended Etna Rosso and Etna Bianco wines from my recent trip around the volcano

Drawing of a range of wine bottles stylized with flowers

Features, Rosé Wines, Wine Science

A Rose by Every Other Name

Clouds over Cornas

Essays, Features, Wine Writing

Genotype, Phenotype, and the Essence of Wine

Painting of a bottle and glass of white wine sitting on a table. Sunlight is streaming through the objects making reflections and shadows.

Essays, Features, Wine Writing

Checking in on The New Languages of Wine

Wine bottles lined up on an exterior windowsill

Essays, Features, Wine Writing

Inside The Machinery of Story

Essays, Features, Wine Writing

Cider Can Learn From Wine’s Lexical Missteps

Features, Portugal, Visual Essays

Whither Port?

Features, Reference, Wine Science

What is Malolactic Fermentation?

Features, Reference, Wine Science

Acidity In Wine

Joško Gravner in his fermentation cellar in Oslavia

Features, Italy, Visual Essays

The Gravner Notebook

Barefoot in the Douro

Essays, Features, Portugal, Travel

Barefoot in the Douro

Terroir Review

A journal of nature, culture, food, wine, and place About Terroir Review

All features

Profiles, essays, travelogues, tasting roundups, and more

Drawing of a range of wine bottles stylized with flowers

A Rose by Every Other Name

Meg Maker in her office

Interview With Meg Maker on the New Languages of Wine

Clouds over Cornas

Genotype, Phenotype, and the Essence of Wine

Painting of a bottle and glass of white wine sitting on a table. Sunlight is streaming through the objects making reflections and shadows.

Checking in on The New Languages of Wine

Video: The New Languages of Wine

Marco Di Grazia

Listening Recklessly to Marco de Grazia

Wine bottles lined up on an exterior windowsill

Inside The Machinery of Story

Organizers in the town square in Montefalco for the preview they called "A Montefalco"

To Montefalco

Champagne corks

Festive Flights and How to Take Them

Cider Can Learn From Wine’s Lexical Missteps

Pastry shop in Florence’s Mercato Centrale

Food’s Five W’s

Whither Port?

View Features

Essays

Award-winning narratives on wine, food, and place by Meg Maker Read more

Wine Reviews

Tasting notes and reports

2021 Domaine Anderson Estate and Dach Vineyard Chardonnays

by Meg Maker

Two elegant options from the cool Anderson Valley

Corison Kronos and Sunbasket Cabernet, and Graham's vintage port

Hail Fellows, Well Met

by Meg Maker

Nerello Mascalese and olive trees

Tasting Report: Red and White Wines of Mt. Etna

by Meg Maker

Drawing of a range of wine bottles stylized with flowers

A Rose by Every Other Name

by Meg Maker

2011 Jean-Marc Brocard Vau de Vey Premier Cru Chablis

by Meg Maker

View Wine Reviews

PRESS, AWARDS & SPEAKING

VIEW ALL ACCOLADES

Food

Terroir-driven foods (including lots of cheese) READ ALL FOOD STORIES & REVIEWS

megmaker

Vitis riparia, the riverbank grape. Ubiquitous. Gr

Vitis riparia, the riverbank grape. Ubiquitous. Grape is gonna grape.

#grapevine #grape #nativegrape #newengland #riparia #vitisriparia

Negative space. #grapes #wineggrapes #pinot #pin

Negative space.

#grapes #wineggrapes #pinot #pinotnoir #illustrator

Wait your turn. #birds #birdsofinstagram #birdsta

Wait your turn.

#birds #birdsofinstagram #birdstagram #birdbath

Autumn is the season of re. The French call it la

Autumn is the season of re. The French call it la rentrée, and it’s both a return and a renewal. I’m caught up in it now, looking backward and forward, rereading old journals and letters. As I revisit that young woman, I reexamine her with a mix of skepticism and generosity, rediscovering stories that are not merely unforgotten but unforgettable. I’ve begun writing those stories down at a pace whose velocity I find shocking, exhilarating. It’s the work I should be doing, could have been doing all along. A story only lives by being told.

#writing #amwriting #memoir

Birds are migrating now through Helene’s devasta

Birds are migrating now through Helene’s devastation. Just a heartbreaking thing to contemplate, all around.

In my monthly column for @circleofwine The Circula

In my monthly column for @circleofwine The Circular, I offer a simple interview technique to coax stories from people who are not natural storytellers. Which is pretty much everyone! So it works for any subject, not just wine. 🥂

Free to read — link in bio and stories and https://www.circleofwinewriters.org/from-the-chair-ask-three-questions/

#wine #winewriting #winewriters #wineeducator #winecommentary #winecritic #winecriticism #wineeducation #interview #journalism #storytelling #writing #writer #writers #writingtips

Final Etna photo dump, at least for now. I’m sti

Final Etna photo dump, at least for now. I’m still processing the sounds, sights, vineyards, vines, people, winds, and wines. More stories to come in due time.

#wine #winemaking #etna #mtetna #sicily #viticulture #enology #sicilianwine #italy #italianwine #vino #palmento #volcanicwine

Autumn walk around the gardens with Ella Jane. #

Autumn walk around the gardens with Ella Jane.

#cat #garden #gardening #raspberries #organicgardening #flowersofinstagram #gardensofinstagram

Here’s another beautifully restored palmento win

Here’s another beautifully restored palmento winemaking facility, at Tenuta Tascante @tascadalmerita in Randazzo north of Mt. Etna. It’s a museum today, but if I squint I can see the souls of workers past.

#wine #winemaking #etna #mtetna #sicily #sicilianwine #italy #italianwine #vino #palmento #volcanicwine

Serena Costanzo, second generation winemaker-owner

Serena Costanzo, second generation winemaker-owner of Palemento Costanzo, on the north slopes of Mt. Etna, explains the historic palmento winemaking process.

The family has re-kitted their old palmento into a modern winery facility, using it to producer their top cuvées. The grapes arrive at the top level and the wine moves by gravity to the aging cellar below. As yesterday, so today.

#wine #winemaking #etna #mtetna #sicily #sicilianwine #italy #italianwine #vino #palmento #volcanicwine

We have Vermont friends who moved here from Hawaii

We have Vermont friends who moved here from Hawaii; she’s the cook, he’s the sommelier, and their dinner parties are the hottest ticket a small group of friends can score. Each year, pandemic excepted, they’ve hosted The Cakewalk, a celebration of a dish popularized by Maui’s Lahaina Grill (albeit as an appetizer). Lorraine mixes it up every edition, but today there were shrimp, crab, and scallop cakes, each with a matching sauce. We hoisted a glass to the restaurant, whose owners decided to hang up their aprons after last year’s devastating fire. Count your blessings. I’m counting mine.

Along Mt. Etna’s terraces, Nerello Mascalese and

Along Mt. Etna’s terraces, Nerello Mascalese and Carricante grapes occasionally escape and grow through the dry stone walls. These are own-rooted vines, called piede franco or piè franco in Italian, like the French franc de pied, which means free-standing (it does not imply Frenchness, but rather “frankness”).

Here, agronomist Rosario Raciti of Cantine Terre Darrigo clears the foliage to reveal the abundant black fruit. I asked him if they routinely gather these volunteers during harvest, to which he replied, “Of course!”

#etna #mtetna #vineyard #vine #viticulture #ownrooted #ungrafted #nerellomascalese #carricante #vino #sicily #sicilianwine #italianwine

Excellent allium crop this year. (Leeks are still

Excellent allium crop this year. (Leeks are still in the ground.) Onion sizing is variable, but anyway sometimes you need a big one and sometimes you need a small one. 🧅

I’ll plant next year’s garlic in a few weeks, selecting the fattest bulbs (à la sélection massale). In March or April it will rise again. 🧄

#onion #onions #garlic #homefarm #harvest #organic #organicgardening #igrow #igrowfood

Breakfast in Sicily! They like all the sweets. La

Breakfast in Sicily! They like all the sweets. La dolce vita, baby.

#breakfast #brioche #granita #sicily #sicilia #colazione

Last week I attended Etna Days, a three-day excurs

Last week I attended Etna Days, a three-day excursion to taste Etna’s wines, visit producers’ cellars, and dust my boots with volcanic soil. It was my fifth tour here, offering a chance to re-taste wines I’ve come to admire and discover new wines, too.

I formally evaluated 138 wines, and, during dinners and events, casually tasted many more. I’ve just published notes on my 60 favorites. Quality was so high overall I found it hard to winnow the list. My notes are just a taste, but one I hope you’ll enjoy.

Link in bio and stories https://terroirreview.com/2024/09/20/tasting-report-red-and-white-wines-of-mt-etna/

#wine #wines #winereview #winewriting #winewriter #wineexpert #wineeducation #wineeducator #wines #vino #winelover #etna #etnadays #mtetna #volcanicwines #volcano #sicily #sicilianwine #italy #italianwine #italianwines

Two minutes in ten seconds. Etna says goodnight.

Two minutes in ten seconds. Etna says goodnight.

#etna #mtetna #mtetna🌋 #clouds #timelapse #wine #etnadays

A single Nerello Mascalese grape cluster. Agronomi

A single Nerello Mascalese grape cluster. Agronomist Rosario Raciti, of Tenuta Terre Darrigo, estimates it weighs 2 kilos.

🍇🏋️

#etna #etnawine #grapes #winegrapes #nerellomascalese #winegrower #etnadays

Me and Etna and a windy day. #etna #mtetna #volca

Me and Etna and a windy day.

#etna #mtetna #volcanicwine

Load More Follow on Instagram

Follow Meg Maker on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and LinkedIn.