Tannins are probably the trickiest thing to understand in wine. All the other structural components – sugar, alcohol, and acidity – are things we encounter regularly in other foods and drink. So what are tannins?

During a 50-hour whirlwind trip to Northern California, I squeezed in a quick trip to Spring Mountain, home to some of my favorite reds.

Even though I’m all about making wine accessible, I have to admit to some inside baseball, wine geek tendencies. One of the geekiest is my love — obsession, really — with Madeira.

I’m about to turn 37 (yikes), and the older I get, the less tolerance I have for bullshit — especially when it comes to restaurants. I was really looking forward to our trip to France as a return to restaurant sanity.

Here’s part of my discussion with Julien Castell, winemaker at Castell-Reynoard in Bandol, talking about vintage variation and why 2009 was a good year for him to create a new wine.

Here’s Sebastian, our helpful (and adorable) tour guide from Château de Pibarnon explaining the history of the vineyard and me providing some translation. And yes, it really was that beautiful.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Even in a place as beautiful as Bandol, winemaking is really hard work. Our visit to Castell-Reynoard, a small, family-owned, property, was a great reminder of what a tough job this can be.

This picture pretty much sums it up: grapes, sunlight, and the Mediterranean.

I’m just back from my trip to Bandol, which was really spectacular. Many more posts to come, including my first attempts at video, but first I had to share some thoughts about French wine tasting.