COLLOCATION: A WORD for the habitual pairing of two words. Like “unmitigated” and “gall” or “oaky” and “Chardonnay.” I even saw the latter phrase turn up as a clue in a crossword puzzle last month.

I got my start in wine with Chardonnay, a million years or so ago in 1997, helping out with the harvest at a winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The winery's Chardonnay was emblematic of the era: ripe ...

You are able to gift 5 more articles this month. Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. Learn more. People seem to hate oak. OK, maybe not everyone, but most people I talk to ...

There are some questions you should ask when picking a white wine. Is it light and refreshing, as delicate as flower petals? Or rich, golden, and weighted like liquid butter? Does the bright acidity ...

It’s damned well time someone did something. About oak, that is. Its abuse in winemaking has been rampant for years, and it’s time to call out the wine police. But first, let me say something ...

Chardonnay. Does the word make you fancy a glass or make you shudder? Now what about chablis? Trick question, of course. Chablis is made from chardonnay grapes grown in the northernmost wine district ...

After running a savage smear campaign against California Chardonnay for most of my early twenties, I want to publicly say I am sorry. I am ashamed that I was a registered member of the ABC party ...

To get you to buy a bottle of champagne, M. Cole Chilton, the face who was always behind the counter of my neighborhood wine store in Brooklyn, would send out emails with elaborate descriptions: "I ...