Melanie Campbell-Drane - The Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Jan 27, 2002

A note-perfect finish that's worth the wait

At one time, port and dessert wines were the essential end to a truly fine meal. The indulgence was justified by the thought that savoring a digestif restored peace to the stomach after a sumptuous dinner. It was a pleasure with medicinal value. Lean back in your chair, stretch out your legs and swirl the liquid in your glass: Now the real conversation begins.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Jan 13, 2002

A great group effort

After the yearend holiday whirlwind, a mood of austerity settles over the month of January. It's a shame, since deep winter evenings are arguably the best time of year to pop the cork on rich, dark and warming red wines. Yet there is a way to savor special wines even in tight-budget times. Start a wine-tasting group; increase the pleasure, but split the cost.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Dec 30, 2001

Reasons to celebrate good-tasting bargains

Recent Vineland columns have focused on distinctive, luxury wines for holiday gift-giving and festive dinners. For our last column in 2001, we pursued an elusive category -- delicious bargain party bottles. It's a tantalizing quest. Few achievements are more gratifying to a wine lover than discovering an affordable indulgence.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Dec 16, 2001

If you're going to pop the cork, do it in style

Recently, we asked professionals from the Tokyo restaurant-and-wine scene to share their tips for worthy holiday wine splurges and to tell us their favorite dishes to match. Their ideas may inspire the right present for a wine aficionado. You might also consider sampling these top picks in a New Year's Eve wine-tasting extravaganza with friends.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Dec 2, 2001

The life of the party

The yearend holiday season brings a flurry of parties, rich dinners and the popping of corks. For those of us who love wine, this time of year presents a few dilemmas as well. There's the torture of finding the right bottle to give the boss or a gourmand in-law who has tried everything. Then we mull over the most delicious wines for a memorable Christmas or New Year's Eve with friends. Maybe we hunt, too, for the best Champagne for a romantic winter te^te-a-te^te. Wine creates a sense of occasion; it is the ribbon that ties together feasts, great and small.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Nov 18, 2001

You might think it's crazy, but this upstart is serious

With all the cultural treasures that Kyoto offers, perhaps few people would have wine in mind when planning their itinerary. After all, in a city with such richness of tradition, wine is a mere arriviste.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Nov 4, 2001

The quiet return of Riesling

Wine and hemlines are both susceptible to the whims of fashion. In recent years, the Riesling grape suffered from a dowdy reputation. During the big red wine boom of the '90s, it was shunned as a pale wallflower.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Oct 21, 2001

A gem of a wine shop in the rough of Nerima

A good, little neighborhood wineshop is a rare treasure in Tokyo. Imagine a friendly place around the corner, where the owner is a passionate wine aficionado. A few times a week, you stop by after work and ask him or her for some tips on an affordable, delicious bottle to go with your home-cooked dinner. The proprietor introduces you to interesting (and sometimes obscure) wines that you might never have dared try on your own.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Oct 7, 2001

From plonk to classics, Shinanoya has got it all

For wine fans, the Daita neighborhood in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward is a worthy destination. This part of town is home to one of Tokyo's most impressive wine stores. Shinanoya Shokuhin Co. has existed for 50 years. By 1998, the wine and spirits department at Shinanoya Supermarket was outgrowing its shelf space. So that year, the company opened a two-story building across the street, dedicated to its collection of about 1,300 wines -- as well as alcoholic beverages, ranging from shochu to dessert liqueurs.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Sep 23, 2001

Wine loving in the city, from dusk till dawn

This week brings good news for wine lovers whose schedules tend toward the late end of the Tokyo grind. Nissin World Delicatessen has extended its hours to 8:30 p.m., and a new Shirogane wine bar is pouring until the wee hours.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Sep 9, 2001

Home is where the harvest is

If you yearn to glimpse a vineyard in autumn, consider visiting one in Japan. In several prefectures, quality-minded vintners are exploring the grape varietals, cultivation techniques and microclimates needed to produce first-class wines.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Aug 26, 2001

There are wine souvenirs, and then there are wines

On the edge of autumn, vineyards are heavy with fruit. In the late afternoon, the air turns cool. The weeks before harvest are one of the most beautiful times of year to visit wineries. And you need not fly overseas for the experience.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Aug 12, 2001

Best-sipped secret in Austria

In an era when wine has become a global industry, wine aficionados must search for handmade quality. Artisan wines are most exciting to find when they are insider tips -- unfamiliar to international consumers and thus still in the realm of good value. Dedicated fans scrutinize wine magazines, newsletters, catalogs, auction reports and tastings to detect the latest underground buzz.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Jul 29, 2001

Patrons of the arts and the vine

Wine and the arts belong together. In cafes from Vienna to New York, there's a tradition of poets, painters, composers and their cronies huddling around tables, where carafes of wine inspire debate, revolutions and love affairs. The food is simple, and the wines are rarely expensive. Yet the conversation, the camaraderie and the music seem to release an intensity of flavors and aromas.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Jul 15, 2001

Wine comes alive through expert guidance

The next time you shop for wine, consider turning it into a leisurely expedition to Le Vin Vivant. Start in the store's cool, gold-painted cafe with a tasting of five recommended wines. The selection changes every other week and costs 1,800 yen (single glasses are 300 yen). If you are feeling peckish, sample the French cheeses as well (a plate of five is 1,200 yen). The tasting will fortify you for a treasure hunt in the adjoining stucco-and-timber wine cellar.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Jul 1, 2001

Another shade of white

During the red wine boom of the '90s, one shade of white prevailed: Chardonnay. Most often produced in a big, rich, oaky international style, it was the heaviest, "reddest" white wine on the scene.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Jun 17, 2001

Visit new worlds on the wine list

A good wine list should not inspire anxiety. But unless you exist on an expense account, an encyclopedia-thick volume of precious trophy wines is daunting. It is also inadequate. A wine menu should invite exploration, with quality wines at a variety of price points.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

Jun 3, 2001

A tip heard through the grapevine

One of our favorite destinations on the California wine route -- the Anderson Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) -- is an insider tip. Less familiar and less traveled than Napa or Sonoma, it is situated among the redwood forests and unspoiled ridges of Mendocino County. The area is home to a community of family-owned, artisanal wineries, the way Napa Valley was some 25 years ago. Their wines are seldom produced in sufficient quantities for supermarket distribution and as a result, few are household names. But visitors here find handcrafted, distinctive wines at moderate prices, direct from the cellar door.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

May 20, 2001

Large portfolio of wines blesses the Anderson Valley

An easy drive from San Francisco, Northern California's sun-drenched wine country is a favorite destination among devotees of food and drink. Napa Valley, home to many prestigious, big-name Cabernet Sauvignon producers, draws the heaviest tourist traffic. Napa visitors spill from buses at lavish tasting facilities and indulge in local spas, gourmet gift shops and some of the most sophisticated, creative restaurants in the United States.

LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND

May 6, 2001

Zin and the art of wineries

For many years, California Zinfandel was the secret tip among red-wine fanatics who weren't obsessed with pedigree. The grape varietal earned its reputation for powerful, concentrated reds that sold for a fraction of the price of a decent Cabernet Sauvignon.

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