Uncorked - Stories, Secrets, Sensations

Hugo Spritz: The Story Behind Italy's Favorite Summer Aperitivo

If you've had a spritz in the last few summers that wasn't orange, there's a good chance it was a Hugo. It's become the aperitivo people order specifically because it isn't Aperol — and it has a su...

How to Taste Wine Without Sounding Like You're Trying

There's a version of "wine tasting" that involves swirling, sniffing theatrically, and reaching for words like "unctuous" — and there's the version that's actually useful, which is just paying atte...

Chianti and Chocolate: An Argument For

Somewhere along the way, "red wine and chocolate" became a pairing people apologize for liking, as if it's a shortcut instead of a real choice. It isn't. Done right, Chianti and chocolate is a genu...

Three Ways to Serve Blumond Beyond the Glass

A chilled glass, poured straight, is still the best way to meet Blumond for the first time — the color needs no help, and neither does the taste. But once you're past that first pour, there's more ...

The Cheese Board That Makes Any Bottle Look Smarter

Nobody needs a cheese course education to host well — they need one board, built with a little logic, that makes whatever's open on the table look intentional. Here's the version that works almost ...

Inside the Label: What Every Symbol on a Saraceni Bottle Means

Most wine labels are designed to be studied, not read — a paragraph of tasting notes, a coat of arms, a vintage chart nobody at the table actually consults. Ours were built to do the opposite: tell...

What "Riserva" Actually Means (And When It Doesn't)

"Riserva" is one of the most confident-sounding words on an Italian wine label, which is exactly why it's worth understanding what it's actually promising — and what it isn't. The legal minimum, in...

The Real Difference Between Prosecco, Frizzante and Spumante

Three words show up on Italian sparkling wine labels constantly, and most people — reasonably — treat them as interchangeable ways of saying "bubbly." They're not. Here's the actual difference, in ...

Why Blumond Is Actually Blue (It's Not a Filter)

The question we get more than any other, almost word for word: "Wait, is that actually blue, or is it the lighting?" It's a fair thing to ask — nothing else on a restaurant wine list looks like thi...

Our Customers Keep Sending Us This — Here's Why

Most of what a wine brand posts is shot with a studio light and a plan. Most of what actually lands in our inbox is neither — it's a photo from a birthday dinner with the flash on, a screenshot of ...