Uncorked - Stories, Secrets, Sensations

Is There Such a Thing as Blue Champagne?

No — there is no such thing as blue Champagne. Champagne isn't a color or a style you can apply to any sparkling wine; it's a legally protected place name, tied to a specific region of France and a...

The Best Bachelorette Party Wine Gifts (That Aren't Champagne)

Champagne is the automatic bachelorette gift — which is exactly why it does almost nothing to make the weekend feel specific to the group holding the glasses. Here's what to give instead. Why the s...

How to Read an Italian Wine Label (No Sommelier Required)

An Italian wine label is mostly three things: a quality classification (DOCG, DOC, or IGT), a set of legally required facts about the wine, and a producer's own branding on top of both. Here's what...

Chianti vs. Chianti Classico: What's Actually the Difference?

Chianti and Chianti Classico are both DOCG wines made mostly from Sangiovese, from overlapping parts of Tuscany — but they are legally distinct denominations, run by different rules and a different...

The Real History of the Aperol Spritz

The Aperol Spritz's orange color and bittersweet profile trace back further than the branded bottle on the shelf — to 19th-century soldiers who thought the local wine was too strong. It started wit...

How Long Does Opened Wine Actually Last in the Fridge?

Short answer: most opened wine is best within 3 to 5 days in the fridge, cork or stopper back in. But that range hides a lot — a resealed Prosecco and a resealed tawny Port do not play by the same ...

What to Pour When You Pop the Question: Engagement Wine Ideas

Most proposal plans get the ring, the location, and even the photographer sorted weeks in advance — and then default to "whatever bottle's cold" for the moment right after the answer. That's the on...

Wedding Favors Your Guests Will Actually Keep: Mini Wine Bottles, Done Right

Most wedding favors share the same fate: a small trinket, a personalized matchbook, a succulent that dies within a month, all quietly binned or forgotten in a junk drawer by the following weekend. ...

Something Blue Ideas for Your Wedding (That Aren't a Garter)

The "something blue" line of the old rhyme gets outsourced to a garter more often than any other line in it — mostly because nobody's told brides there's a longer, more interesting list to choose f...

The Best Sparkling Wine for a Wedding Toast (And How to Pick One)

A wedding toast is one of the only moments at a reception where literally every glass in the room gets raised at once. That's a lot of pressure to put on a bottle most couples pick last, after the ...