Back in the early to mid 1990s one of my clients was a fairly large Texas Winery. It’s president was a very accomplished wine and spirits executive who after retiring from a large company took the position at this Texas winery…I think just to keep busy and keep in control of something. However, at the time there was no person in Texas more anti-direct shipping than he. His reasoning was if direct shipping was allowed in Texas then CA wineries…

Two new Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have formed that have vineyard land as their focus. To-date, Reit’s have not focused on vineyards, but instead commercial properties. Vintage Wine Trust has  raised $159 million in a private offering and expects to fatten it’s kitty to $459 million through bank loans and other opportunities. Global Wine Partners, out of Napa Valley and backed by MKF Group, a wine industry consultancy, says it is funded with $245 million and expects to have…

I’m getting ready to close down the first-ever Fermentations Survey in just a couple of days. So, if you haven’t voiced your opinion, please do so now. The topic under consideration: "How you consume wine media". How, why, when, where? TAKE THE SURVEY HERE!

It’s not the 1976 Paris Tasting, but it sure is impressive. Walter Schug’s Schug Carneros Estate 2003 Carneros Chardonnay was the only American Chardonnay to win a gold medal at the recently completed "Chardonnay du Monde" wine competition in France. 1090 Chardonnays from across the globe were entered into the competition. Only 64 were awarded Golds. Schug is a Carneros Pioneer. The man has been making wine for more than 50 vintages, beginning in his home country of Germany. At…

It’s true. Myself and Christian from Turn the Screw were invited on Lynn Chamberlain’s "Wine & Dine" Radio show to talk about wine blogging, the ego-centric nature of writing, selling wines you like, Savannah and how studying the lives of Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt and other mid 20th century figures can lead to blogging about wine. Listen Here…or, find Lynn’s show archived on the iTunes radio channel.