Pear drop is a term often used by wine writers to describe the flavor of Beaujolais Nouveau. These writers would all be British since pear drops are virtually unknown in North America. They’re a traditional type of candy that the British call boiled sweets and Americans call hard candy.

They get their flavor from isoamyl acetate, an artificial flavoring commonly called banana oil. Yes, pear drops taste mainly like bananas but also like ripe pears as well. Beaujolais Nouveau gets its pear drop/ banana candy flavor from carbonic maceration, a process where whole bunches of grapes are fermented without crushing. The process produces isoamyl acetate, the pear drop flavor compound.

Update: Wine Map of California is now available.
As soon as we released our first wine map - of the Iberian Peninsula - I started getting emails like this: “Dude, when are you going to do a California Map?”
For some reason, I was under the impression that a bunch of good [...]

The one and only Clark Smith is on the hot seat this week at Enobytes.com. Stop by to ask him any question concerning wine making, the wine industry or just to see the discussion. For those of you who don’t know him, he owns the world’s largest wine consulting company - Vinovation - and [...]

Are vintages subjective?

8 out of 10 cats would agree that wine ratings are based on personal taste. Vintages, on the other hand, seem to be more grounded in the firm reality of weather and climate and their effects on the grapes. A good year is a good year, no?

CLICK TO SEE THE [...]

Riesling is often described as “racy.” The term usually refers to its high acidity but is even more apt when the same wines have that slight whiff of racing fuel.

What causes this? Bottle aging and warm weather are two reasons most often given, but it’s more complicated than that. Isn’t it always? [...]

Selecting the perfect yacht juice

Yachts? Rosés? But the markets are tanking and the summer is over!
Damn the reality1, full speed ahead!
For the past few years rosé sales have power-sailed at a record pace. No one knows exactly why given their perpetual image problem due to (in no apparent order):

White Zinfandel
Rosé d’Anjou (the [...]

¿Por qué Iberia?

We started with Spain and Portugal for 3 main reasons:

It’s the most dynamic (and constantly changing) area in the wine world today
There wasn’t a good map currently available (for France there are a few)
It’s a great looking land mass!

This is simply the only up to date wine map of the region [...]

Move aside Hondarribi Zuri (of Txakolina fame), there’s a new grape in town.
We were in New York City last week for a wedding and the 2006 Stadlmann Rotgipfler was one of the wines flowing freely. The newlyweds are serious foodies so their choice of the latest, coolest and most obscure grape variety wasn’t too [...]

Is it Cabernet Sauvignon or cabernet sauvignon?
The New York Times and Slate.com don’t capitalize the names of grape varieties but practically everyone else does. What, then, is the correct usage?
This may seem a little geeky or pedantic but it’s important for anyone who writes about wine. I seem to revisit this question [...]

This article appeared in the August 2007 edition of Connections Magazine (Ireland)
A man walks into a restaurant just outside of Naples and barks out his order. “I want three things: a pepperoni pizza, a green salad and a bottle of red wine – Chianti.” This guy just wasn’t about to get sweet talked [...]

I just got back from a trip to Rome with a bitter taste in my mouth. No, it wasn’t a bad trip or anything like that. It’s just that amazing bitter aftertaste in so many Italian wines both red and white. Is there any country that does bitter better than the [...]