IS OLD REALLY GOLD? THE MYHT OF OLD VINES
One of my favorite Chateauneuf du Pape wines, Chante Cigale, has two versions, regular and Vieilles Vignes. I bought a case of both from the [...]
ARE WINE COMPETITIONS RELEVANT? A WINDOW INTO THE CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR
How many of you have come across a bottle of wine with some ornate ribbon on it proclaiming that it won a gold or silver [...]
A SURPRISE OUTBURST; OUTCRY OVER CRU BOURGEOIS
The intensely competitive, crowded wine world forces wineries into a continuous struggle to distinguish and stratify themselves by quality and reputation. In the New World, [...]
THE STATE OF ESTATE; LESSONS FROM SCHUG
In the unregulated, mishmash world of special labels used by California wineries one that often slips by is Estate. It is an innocuous word, somewhat [...]
WITNESS HOW SAUSAGE IS MADE; THE PUBLICATION PROCESS
As I prepare my second book for publication I am increasingly realizing that a writer's life revolves around three phases with each project, writing itself [...]
WHO INVENTED “VARIETALS”?
"I can't make out the varietal!"This is a common utterance in our Friday night blind tastings when we are stomped with a puzzling bottle of [...]
TITLE TROUBLES
Two months ago I ran into Bob Lawrence, a local pathologist and erudite socialite. He was dining at Wine Wizard's with his elegant wife Eleanor. [...]
CHENIN BLANC RENAISSANCE? WHO KNEW!
Eric Asimov, a wine columnist for the New York Times penned a recent article, published last August, in which he announced a renaissance [...]
A RECIPE AGAINST LOGORRHEA IN BACK LABELS
The wine you see in the photo appeared in a recent Friday night tasting. It was rather indistinct in the impression it made, light bodied, [...]
VIRGIN VISIT TO SIDEWAYS COUNTRY
Thirty miles north-east of the scenic seaside town of Santa Barbara there lies a vast wine country made famous by the 2004 movie Sideways. Stretching [...]