It’s always exciting when you get to discover a wine growing region up close. I had that opportunity this weekend when I was given a guided tour of parts of the Monterey appellation and the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation. Years ago Monterey got a bad reputation for Cabernet. U.C. Davis announced that it was perhaps the best region in California for growing wine grapes. Well, they planted them…unfortunately they planted Cabernet and in the wrong place. What we got was…

If you were the Wine King of California and were tasked with dictating rules about which grape variety could be grown in different regions how would you  lay down the law? In most area’s of Europe it’s hard to get away from the notion of one or two grapes defining a particular growing region. They have laws that say you must use particular grapes to put the place name on the label. In America it’s different. We put varietals on…

I think it’s safe to say that Huge Johnson (not his real name?) of Huge Johnson’s World of Wine Blog is becoming America’s biggest and best critic of Biodynamic viticulture…or at least of the claims made by it’s adherents. Biodynamic grape growing is certainly gaining a higher profile among American vintners and probably among American wine drinkers. However, if you are the type to support and defend a trend simply because it seems more green, Huge’s comments on the subject…

Allow me to be the first to question the utility of the "American Viticultural Area" scheme by which defined geographic areas are granted this AVA Status supposedly because there is something so unique about the area’s climate and soils as to offer something unique to wines made from grapes grown there. Exhibit #1: Washington State’s new "Horse Heaven Hills" AVA. This region, located on the Columbia River’s north slope, was granted AVA status by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax And…